Doctor Who Supplied Matthew Perry Ketamine — and Called Him ‘Moron’ — Gets 30 Months in Prison

A California doctor who provided ketamine to Matthew Perry has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Salvador Plasencia, 42, of Santa Monica, was sentenced on Wednesday, Dec. 3, after previously pleading guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Perry, the 54-year-old Friends star, was found dead on Oct. 28, 2023, in the jacuzzi at his Pacific Palisades, Calif., home. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he died from a fatal ketamine overdose. An autopsy report listed the cause of death as the acute effects of ketamine and ruled the overdose accidental.

Other factors that contributed to his death included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a medication commonly used to treat opioid use disorder.

Nearly 10 months after Perry’s death, federal prosecutors charged two primary defendants — Jasveen Sangha, 41, an alleged North Hollywood drug dealer nicknamed the “Ketamine Queen,” and Plasencia — in connection with the case, the Department of Justice announced on Aug. 15.

According to a plea agreement with the Department of Justice, Perry’s longtime assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, said the actor was injected with ketamine three times on the day he died.

Perry had long struggled with addiction and had turned to ketamine therapy in an effort to manage depression and anxiety. In the months before his death, he became addicted to the powerful drug and was injecting it as often as six to eight times a day, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors allege that five people took advantage of Perry’s addiction and continued to supply him with ketamine during the final weeks of his life. All five have since pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his death.

A superseding indictment claimed that Sangha’s distribution of ketamine on Oct. 24, 2023, led to Perry’s death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury, the Justice Department said.

Iwamasa, Erik Fleming and Dr. Mark Chavez also pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in building the case against Sangha and Plasencia.

Earlier in August, Chavez signed an agreement to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine, the Associated Press reported.

In one exchange cited by the Justice Department, Plasencia texted Chavez about how much to charge Perry for ketamine, writing, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”