An investigation into the fatal overdose of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry led to the arrests of five suspects for illegal ketamine distribution, including two doctors, Perry’s live-in assistant, and a supplier known as “The Ketamine Queen,” prosecutors announced Thursday.
Perry was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023 from the acute effects of ketamine, according to the medical examiner. In May, local and federal officials confirmed they were investigating how Perry obtained the ketamine.
“That investigation has revealed a broad underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said.
According to an indictment unsealed Thursday, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, a licensed medical doctor also known as “Dr. P,” learned in Sept. 2023 that Perry, who had a well-known history of drug addiction, was interested in acquiring ketamine.
On Sept. 30, Plasencia contacted Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician who previously operated a ketamine clinic, about purchasing ketamine to sell to Perry. In text messages obtained by investigators, Plaesncia wrote, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
The same day, Chavez sent Plasencia a photo of ketamine lozenges he’d obtained by writing a fraudulent prescription. The two doctors met up “in or around Costa Mesa” and Chavez sold Plasencia the lozenges along with at least four vials of liquid ketamine.
The indictment alleges that later that day, Plasencia went to Perry’s home and injected him with ketamine. He left the vials and syringes behind and gave instructions to Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, on how to administer it.
“Plasencia knew that Iwamasa had never received medical training and knew little, if anything, about administering or treating patients with controlled substances,” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Plasencia continued to sell ketamine to Iwamasa throughout October, prosecutors say.
In mid-October, Iwamasa also began buying ketamine from a man named Eric Fleming, who obtained his supply from Jasveen Sangha, a.k.a. “The Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood. In a text message to Iwamasa, Fleming said he was willing to facilitate the deal, but wrote, “I wouldn't do it if there wasn't a chance of me making some money for doing this.”
Over the next two weeks, Fleming sold Iwamasa 50 vials of ketamine for $11,000 in cash. Iwamasa injected Perry with the illegal ketamine using the syringes and instructions Plasencia had provided.
On Oct. 28, Perry died at his Pacific Palisades home after multiple ketamine injections administered by Iwamasa. After the news of Perry’s death broke, prosecutors say Sangha texted Fleming, “Delete all our messages.”
When federal agents and LAPD detectives searched Sangha’s home, they found approximately 79 vials of ketamine, 3.1 pounds of pills containing methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine, and fraudulently-obtained prescription drugs, according to prosecutors.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” Estrada said. “They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways.”
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Iwamasa pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Fleming also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death. In court documents, he admitted to distributing 50 vials of ketamine to Iwamasa, including the dose that Perry. He’ll face up to 25 years in prison.
Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Sangha and Plasencia were both arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha is also charged with distribution of ketamine, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and ketamine.
Sangha and Plasencia are expected to be arraigned in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.
For some, Perry's untimely death brings into question the value ketamine has as a therapeutic, but Dr. Steven Siegel, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the USC Keck School of Medicine, tells KNX News Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman that shouldn't be the takeaway.
"The fact that somebody passed away while using ketamine doesn't mean that ketamine is not a useful treatment for the right people, at the right time, when used the right way," said Dr. Siegel.
He goes on to say that every drug has a 'therapeutic index' - a measure of its safety margin, indicating the difference between the dose required for therapeutic benefit and the dose likely to cause adverse effects.
When it comes to drugs like ketamine, with a slim margin for error, the doctor says it's more important to ask what the risk of NOT using it is for a given individual.
For example, said Siegel, "If I had a drug that worked well for acne, but if I gave 1.5 times the normal dose and the person died, I'd say just have the acne, right? It's not worth it."
However, when it comes to ketamine's place in psychiatry, Siegel said it is generally used as a rapid treatment for severe depression, where the situation is life or death.
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