A doctor accused of illegally supplying ketamine to Friends actor Matthew Perry in the weeks leading up to his fatal overdose has agreed to plead guilty, according to court documents filed Monday in federal court.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia will plead guilty to four counts of unlawful distribution of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic increasingly used off-label for depression. In exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop three other distribution charges and two counts of falsifying medical records.
The plea agreement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, carries a potential prison sentence of up to 40 years. Plasencia is expected to formally enter his plea in the coming weeks.
Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The L.A. County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be the acute effects of ketamine, which Perry had been using as part of an off-label treatment for depression. He was 54.
According to the plea deal, Plasencia admitted to illegally supplying Perry with more than 20 vials of ketamine, along with lozenges and syringes, in the month before his death. The drugs were obtained with the help of another doctor, Mark Chavez, who has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities.
In text messages revealed in court filings, Plasencia referred to Perry as a “moron” and discussed exploiting the actor for money. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia wrote to Chavez. The pair allegedly met in Costa Mesa to exchange the drugs, which were later sold to Perry for $4,500.
Plasencia also admitted to visiting Perry’s home twice to administer ketamine injections and instructed the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, on how to inject the drug. On another occasion, he provided Iwamasa with more ketamine for Perry, according to Iwamasa’s own plea agreement.
The case involves a total of five defendants. Three have already pleaded guilty, including Chavez and Erik Fleming, a close friend of Perry who admitted to acting as a drug courier. The fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, is accused of being a major ketamine dealer and allegedly supplied the dose that killed Perry. She has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody awaiting trial.
Plasencia, who had been out on bond, was one of the primary targets of the investigation. His plea deal does not include a sentencing recommendation, and none of the defendants has been sentenced yet.
Matthew Perry’s struggles with addiction were well-documented. He openly discussed his decades-long battle with substance abuse, which began during his time on Friends — a role that made him a global icon during the show’s 10-year run from 1994 to 2004.
