Matthew Perry's death leads to sweeping indictment of 5, including doctors and a reputed dealer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 10 months after the death of Matthew Perry, the longsimmering investigation into the ketamine that killed him came dramatically into public view with the announcement that five people had been charged with having roles in the overdose of the beloved “Friends” star.
Here are key things to know about the case, including the two key figures who could be headed for trial and the possibility of the steepest of prison sentences.
A sweeping set of indictments
One or more arrests had been expected since investigators from three different agencies revealed in May they had been conducting a joint probe into how the 54-year-old Perry got such large amounts of ketamine.
The actor had been among the growing number of patients using legal but off-label medical means to treat depression, or in other cases chronic pain, with the powerful surgical anesthetic.
Recent reports suggested indictments might be imminent, but few outside observers, if any, knew how wideranging the prosecution would be, reaching much further than previous cases stemming from celebrity overdoses.
When Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, his doctor was charged with providing it. After rapper Mac Miller died in 2017, two men who prosecutors described as a dealer and a middleman were convicted of providing fentanyllaced oxycodone that helped kill him.
But Perry's case pulled in both, with indictments against doctors and illegal distributors who prosecutors say preyed on his long and public struggles with addiction. The investigation even went after the live-in personal assistant who prosecutors say helped him get ketamine and injected it directly into him before Perry was found dead in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023.
“They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges.
The prosecution was well under way even before the announcement. Two people including the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a Perry acquaintance, Eric Fleming, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute the drug. A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has agreed to enter a guilty plea.
That leaves prosecutors free to pursue their two biggest targets.
The doctor and the ‘Ketamine Queen'
An indictment unsealed Thursday alleges Perry turned to Los Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia when his regular doctors refused to give him more ketamine. Prosecutors allege Plasencia cashed in on Perry's desperation and addiction, getting him to pay $55,000 in cash for large amounts of the drug in the two months before his death.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted a codefendant, according to his indictment.
He pleaded not guilty to seven counts of distribution of ketamine in an appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.
Plasencia's attorney, Stefan Sacks, said outside court that he "was operating with what he what he thought were the best of medical intentions,” and his actions “certainly didn't rise to the level of criminal misconduct.”