Doctor who supplied ketamine to Matthew Perry and called him a ‘moron’
will plead guilty
[June 17, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine
in the month leading up to the “Friends” star's overdose death will
plead guilty, according to an agreement filed in court Monday.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia agreed to plead guilty to four counts of
distribution of ketamine, according to the signed document filed in
federal court in Los Angeles. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors
agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and
two counts of falsifying records.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the plea carries a maximum
sentence of 40 years in prison. They said Plasencia is expected to
formally plead guilty in the coming weeks.
According to a co-defendant, Plasencia in a text message called the
actor a “moron” who could be exploited for money. The physician had been
one of the primary targets of the prosecution, along with a woman
accused of being a ketamine dealer. Three other defendants, including
another doctor, agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their
cooperation.
Plasencia and the woman, Jasveen Sangha, had been scheduled to face
trial in August. An email to his attorney seeking comment was not
immediately answered.
Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28, 2023. The medical
examiner ruled that ketamine, typically used as a surgical anesthetic,
was the primary cause of death.
The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal
but off-label treatment for depression, which has become increasingly
common. Perry, 54, began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would
give him.
Plasencia admitted in his plea agreement that another patient connected
him with Perry, and that starting about a month before Perry's death, he
illegally supplied the actor with 20 vials of ketamine totaling 100 mg
of the drug, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes.
He admitted to enlisting the other doctor, Mark Chavez, to supply the
drug for him, according to the court filings.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez,
according to Chavez's plea agreement. The two met up the same day in
Costa Mesa, halfway between the Los Angeles area where Plasencia
practiced and San Diego, where Chavez practiced, and exchanged several
vials of ketamine, the filings said.
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Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West
Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP,
File)
 After selling the drugs to Perry for
$4,500, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying
them so they could become Perry’s “go-to,” prosecutors said.
Plasencia admitted to visiting Perry's house twice and injecting him
with ketamine. He also left ketamine behind and showed Perry's
personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, how to inject it, according to
Iwamasa's plea agreement. The doctor later met up with Iwamasa and
gave him more ketamine for Perry, according to the document.
Perry was also getting ketamine from another source, Sangha, who
prosecutors allege was a major dealer and supplied the dose that
killed the actor.
Sangha has pleaded not guilty — making her the only one of the five
people charged in Perry’s death who has not entered a plea
agreement. She remains jailed as she awaits trial. Plasencia was
freed on bond after his initial court appearances.
Erik Fleming, a friend of Perry who said he acted as a middleman and
drug messenger, has also pleaded guilty and has been cooperating
with prosecutors.
None of the defendants has yet been sentenced. Plasencia's plea deal
makes no specific sentencing guarantees.
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on
“Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation
as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney
Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons
from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.
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