Five individuals face charges in the 2023 death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry.
The Los Angeles Times reports that prosecutors charged Perry’s personal assistant, two doctors and two drug dealers yesterday with providing the actor ketamine.
Perry’s autopsy report revealed a level of ketamine, which is sometimes used in the treatment of depression, as approximately the same as would be used in general anesthesia.
Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, allegedly worked with two doctors, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia, and two drug dealers, Jasveen Sangha and Eric Fleming, to acquire thousands of dollars’ worth of ketamine for the actor who portrayed Chandler Bing in the 1990 TV series “Friends.” Perry struggled for many years with addiction.
In a news conference, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendants “took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction to enrich themselves.”
While none of the five defendants have entered pleas, the LA Times gathered a timeline of events leading to Perry’s death in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home. One month before he died, Plasencia learned that Perry wanted to obtain ketamine. Plasencia contacted Chavez, who used to operate a ketamine clinic. Text messages between Plasencia and Chavez reveal discussion of how much to charge the actor. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” court records show Plasencia said.
Ketamine can be snorted or injected to experience a sense of euphoria or “dissociative” effects. High doses can make some individuals feel immobilized or create hallucinations. Ketamine can increase demands on the heart and complicate breathing.
Chavez and Plasencia distributed 20 vials of the drug to Perry for $55,000 in cash, which is $2,000 more per vial than what Chavez paid.
Iwamasa also began obtaining ketamine from Sangha and Fleming in mid-October, according to court records, at a lower cost. Plasencia is alleged by federal prosecutors to have taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry with the drug. Prosecutors said that a large dose once made Perry “freeze up.” Plasencia is accused of injecting Perry with ketamine in a car in a Long Beach parking lot.
Plasencia, 42, was accused of giving officials falsified documents showing a medical treatment plan for Perry that claimed the actor was being given a maximum dose of 60 milligrams in a 24-hour period, the indictment states. But prosecutors say Perry was injecting much higher doses.
Iwamasa gave Perry’s first ketamine shot, according to a plea agreement Iwamasa signed, at approximately 8:30 a.m. on October 28, a second injection less than an hour later and a third on the afternoon of the day Perry died. Iwamasa said Perry told him “shoot me up with a big one.” Perry got into his hot tub and Iwamasa left the house to run errands. When Iwamasa returned, Perry was dead.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s report concluded Perry’s death was an accident. The high levels of ketamine in his blood may have caused “lethal effects,” including cardiovascular and respiratory. Other factors were drowning, coronary heart disease and buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder in patients.
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Rebecca Barnabi
