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LOS ANGELES (CN) — A doctor who supplied Matthew Perry with ketamine on multiple occasions in the weeks leading up to the actor’s death in October 2023 from an overdose of the drug has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges.
Salvador Plasencia, a.k.a. “Dr. P,” agreed to admit to four counts of distributing ketamine, according to his plea deal filed Monday in federal court in Los Angeles. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison on each count.
Plasencia is one of five people charged by the U.S. attorney in LA with illegally supplying Perry with the drug, which is normally used to induce anesthesia but can only be used for treating depression and for pain management. Three others, including Perry’s personal assistant and a San Diego doctor who was one of Plasencia’s sources for ketamine, have also pleaded guilty in the case.
According to the plea agreement, Plasencia owned and operated Malibu Canyon Urgent Care in Malibu, California, when, in September 2023, one of his patients introduced him to Perry as a “high profile person” who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay “cash and lots of thousands” for ketamine treatment.
Plasencia, the same day, contacted Mark Chavez, the San Diego doctor, whom he knew had operated a ketamine clinic, to obtain a supply of the drug.
After he acquired four vials of liquid ketamine and an open box of ketamine lozenges from Chavez, for a total of $795, Plasencia went straight to Perry’s residence and injected him with the drug and left an extra vial with Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant. Iwamasa paid Plasencia $4,500.
On Oct. 2, 2023, Plasencia visited Perry again to administer him ketamine and left additional vials and lozenges with the actor’s assistant, even though Iwamasa had no medical training to administer the drug to his boss.
Two days later, as Perry had run out of ketamine, Plasencia obtained a fresh supply from Chavez and went back to the actor’s residence to inject him and leave some vials for later use in exchange for $3,000. And just two days after that, Plasencia received $12,000 from Iwamasa for an additional supply.
The following days, Plasencia supplied Iwamasa with more ketamine during a late-night meeting at the Santa Monica Mall, and he met with Perry to inject him with ketamine in the backseat of his car that was parked in the public lot of the Long Beach Aquarium.
Soon after, on Oct. 12, 2023, Plasencia went back to Perry’s residence to inject him with ketamine, during which procedure the actor’s blood pressure spiked, causing him to freeze up. Nevertheless, Plasencia left additional vials of ketamine with Iwamasa, knowing that he would inject Perry with it.
After he had obtained a new supply of ketamine from a licensed pharmaceutical business on Oct. 27, 2023, Plasencia texted Iwamasa: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine …I can always let her know the plan.”
The next day, Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine. The ketamine that caused his death wasn’t provided by Plasencia, according to his plea agreement.
Plasencia’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Perry, who rose to fame in the 1990s for playing Chandler Bing on NBC’s sitcom “Friends,” died at the age of 54. His death was due to a ketamine overdose after he had received several injections of the drug on the day he died from Iwamasa, his live-in personal assistant. Iwamasa was the one who found Perry dead later that day.
According to federal prosecutors, in mid-October, Iwamasa had also begun buying ketamine from Jasveen Sangha, a.k.a. “The Ketamine Queen,” and one of her associates, Erik Fleming. The ketamine that ended up killing Perry had been obtained from them, according to the prosecution.
Fleming also has pleaded guilty. Sangha is scheduled to go on trial in August.
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