Doctor Who Supplied Ketamine to Matthew Perry Pleads Guilty as Shocking Details Surface

The doctor who gave Matthew Perry ketamine before his death has now pleaded guilty to illegally supplying the drug. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Salvador Plasencia entered his plea in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday.

He admitted to four counts of ketamine distribution and could face up to 10 years in prison for each charge.

Plasencia was one of five people charged after Perry died from a ketamine overdose in October 2023. The actor, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, was found unresponsive in his hot tub at home in Los Angeles. He was 54 years old. An autopsy later confirmed the cause of death was acute ketamine toxicity.

Plasencia, who ran an urgent care clinic in Malibu, was originally headed to trial in August. But instead, he took a plea deal. Prosecutors say he handed out ketamine vials, lozenges, and syringes to Perry and his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between September 30 and October 12, 2023. According to the plea agreement, none of the drugs were given for any real medical reason.

His lawyer, Karen Goldstein, said in a statement, “Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry… He is fully accepting responsibility.” She also said he will give up his medical license soon, adding that he “acknowledges his failure to protect Mr. Perry, a patient who was especially vulnerable due to addiction.”

In text messages with another doctor, Mark Chavez, Plasencia joked about how much money Perry might pay for ketamine. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” he wrote. “Let’s find out.” Plasencia later gave Perry ketamine both at his house and, in one case, in a parking lot near an aquarium. Chavez warned him after that, saying “dosing people in cars, and in a public place where children are present” was not okay.

Despite Perry reacting badly to one dose, his blood pressure spiked and he reportedly froze, Plasencia kept supplying the drug. On October 27, just a day before Perry died, Plasencia messaged Iwamasa saying he had left more ketamine with a nurse, in case they wanted to continue treatment while he was out of town. The ketamine that actually killed Perry didn’t come from Plasencia, but from another source, according to prosecutors.

Eric Fleming is the man who admitted he gave Iwamasa the ketamine that led to Perry’s death. He said in court documents that he passed on 50 vials, some of which he got from a woman named Jasveen Sangha. Fleming has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in November.

Sangha, who has been nicknamed “The Ketamine Queen,” is accused of selling the exact batch that killed Perry. She has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go on trial in August.

As for Perry’s assistant, Iwamasa, he also pleaded guilty. He told prosecutors that Perry gave him money to help find ketamine and that he gave the actor the fatal dose on the day he died. He’ll be sentenced in November.

The Justice Department hopes these convictions will send a clear message to others in the growing at-home ketamine industry.

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