Matthew Perry’s Death Leads To Sweeping Indictment Of 5, Including Doctors And Reputed Dealers

Los Angeles — Nearly ten months after Matthew Perry’s death, the long-simmering inquiry into the ketamine that killed him came to light with the announcement that five persons had been charged with contributing to the beloved “Friends” star’s overdose.

Here are the important details regarding the case, including the two key players who may face trial and the likelihood of the worst prison penalties.

Matthew Perry’s Death Leads To Sweeping Indictment Of 5, Including Doctors And Reputed Dealers

A comprehensive series of indictments
One or more arrests were expected after detectives from three different agencies stated in May that they were launching a coordinated investigation into how Perry, 54, obtained such massive amounts of ketamine.

The actor was one of an increasing number of people who used the potent surgical anesthetic to treat depression or chronic pain through legal but off-label techniques.

Recent reports suggested that indictments were imminent, but few outside observers, if any, anticipated how broad the prosecution would be, going much beyond prior cases involving celebrity overdoses.

Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a deadly dose of the anesthetic propofol, and his doctor was accused of supplying it. After rapper Mac Miller died in 2017, two men, characterized by authorities as a dealer and a middleman, were convicted of selling fentanyl-laced oxycodone that contributed to his death.

However, Perry’s case involved both, with indictments issued by both doctors and illicit dealers who prosecutors said preyed on his long and public struggles with addiction. The inquiry even went after Perry’s live-in personal assistant, who authorities claim helped him obtain ketamine and injected it directly into him before he was discovered dead in his hot tub on October 28, 2023.

“They were aware that what they were doing posed a significant risk to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyhow,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada, who announced the accusations.

Even before the announcement, the prosecution had already begun. Two individuals, including the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a Perry acquaintance, Eric Fleming, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute the narcotic. A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has decided to enter a guilty plea.

This leaves prosecutors free to pursue their two main targets.

The Doctor and the ‘Ketamine Queen’
According to an indictment released on Thursday, Perry turned to Los Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia after his regular doctors refused to give him additional ketamine. Prosecutors claim Plasencia took advantage of Perry’s desperation and addiction, convincing him to pay $55,000 in cash for huge volumes of the drug in the two months leading up to his death.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted a co-defendant, according to the indictment.

On Thursday afternoon, he appeared in federal court and pleaded not guilty to seven charges of ketamine distribution.

Stefan Sacks, Plasencia’s attorney, stated outside court that he “was operating with what he thought were the best of medical intentions,” and that his acts “certainly did not rise to the level of criminal misconduct.”

Prosecutors claim that Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known to customers as the “Ketamine Queen,” delivered the doses of the substance that killed Perry, which Iwamasa injected into the actor using syringes supplied by Plasencia.

Sangha has also pleaded not guilty. During the hearing, her lawyer, Alexandra Kazarian, slammed the “queen” nickname as a media-friendly term. The lawyer declined to comment on the case outside of court.

Prosecutors allege that the other doctor in the case, Chavez, assisted Plasencia in obtaining the ketamine he supplied to Perry, while Perry’s acquaintance, Fleming, assisted in getting ketamine from Sangha to Perry.

Chavez faces up to ten years in prison, Iwamasa up to fifteen, and Fleming up to twenty-five years.

Multiple mails seeking response from the three men’s solicitors have yet to be responded.

Looking ahead to trial.
If convicted as charged, Sangha faces life in jail, while Plasencia faces up to 120 years. Each has a trial date in October, but it is unlikely that any will face a jury before then, so the two may be tried together. They could face testimony from co-defendants who reached plea deals.

Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar determined Sangha should be jailed without bond while awaiting trial, noting prosecutors’ claims that she destroyed evidence and maintained a luxury lifestyle through drug sales long after Perry’s death.

Matthew Perry’s Death Leads To Sweeping Indictment Of 5, Including Doctors And Reputed Dealers

The judge agreed to let Plasencia go after he posted a $100,000 bond.

His lawyers argued that the Perry case was “isolated” and that the doctor should be permitted to serve patients who relied on him at his one-man business while awaiting trial.

“I’m not buying that argument,” Sagar said but decided Plasencia may visit patients if they signed a contract acknowledging the charges.

“People have probably already heard about it from the amount of press,” Sacks told the judge, adding that if they hadn’t already, they would shortly.

Plasencia’s medical license is in excellent standing, with no complaints, but it is slated to expire in October, and he may face disciplinary action. He has already given up his federal license to administer more harmful medications.

Pushing back against ketamine
Prosecutors and police characterized the Perry case as part of a massive fight against an increase in illegal ketamine usage, which has overshadowed the legalization of its use.

In May, Los Angeles police stated they were collaborating with the United States Medication Enforcement Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service on an investigation into how Perry obtained the medication. His autopsy, conducted in December, revealed that the amount of ketamine in his blood was within the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

“As Matthew Perry’s ketamine addiction progressed, he desired more, faster, and cheaper. That is how he ended up buying from street traffickers and stealing the ketamine that eventually led to his death,” said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram on Thursday. “In doing so, he followed the terrible trajectory that we have witnessed with countless others. The substance use disorder starts in the doctor’s office and finishes on the street.”

Perry struggled with addiction for years, beginning with his time on NBC’s megahit sitcom “Friends,” which aired for ten seasons between 1994 and 2004. He rose to prominence as Chandler Bing on Friends, starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.

SOURCE | AP