Salvador Plasencia, aka ‘Dr P,’ who pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution in connection with Friends star Matthew Perry‘s death case, has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.
Although the 44-year-old man has since surrendered his medical license as part of his plea agreement, he originally ran a clinic in Calabasas, California. Having been found guilty of prescribing ketamine to Perry, Dr P is now the first of five defendants to be sentenced.
He originally faced up to 40 years in prison, according to US reports citing his plea agreement. However, the government ultimately sought for a three-year sentence, with Plasencia’s lawyers urging for three years of supervised release. They backed their argument stating that the doctor had “already lost his medical license, his clinic and his career.”
About California Doctor P and Matthew Perry’s connection
According a press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, one of Plasencia’s patients is said to have introduced him to the late Hollywood star on September 30, 2023. The beloved American actor sadly died the next month, with a coroner ultimately ruling his cause of death as “acute effects from ketamine,” which is a strong anesthetic.
US authorities have since determined that Plasencia gave Matthew Perry and his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, “20 vials and multiple tablets of ketamine and syringes” in the weeks following their initial meeting.
Perry, who was founded dead at his Los Angeles home, two years ago, had long documented having struggled with addiction and depression. In his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” Matthew opened up about his experiences tied to ketamine use and how the drug made him “dissociate.”
More about Salvador Plasencia
As per the indictment unsealed in August 2024, Plasencia found out about Perry’s interest in late September 2023. The US Justice Department’s then-published press release stated that the California doctor consequently reached out to Dr Mark Chavez due to his prior operations at a ketamine clinic. “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” Dr P wrote about Perry in text messages to Chavez.
He eventually gave the drug to the actor and his assistant without an official medical purpose backing the prescription on at least seven occasions in the months of September and October 2023. Plasencia even taught Iwamasa how to inject his boss. He then did so without any safety equipment, with one such instance taking place inside a car parked in a Long Beach parking lot.
The California doctor did so despite Perry’s long documented personal struggle with addiction and knowing that Iwamasa did not have medical training or any firm knowledge about administering anyone with such substances.
Others who pleaded guilty in Matthew Perry overdose case
In addition to Plasencia, four others pleaded guilty in the case. Jasveen Sangh, better known as the “Ketamine Queen,” agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
She is expected to be sentenced later this month. Sangha could face up to 65 years in prison, as per the Guardian.
Three other defendants will also face their fate in the forthcoming months. Of these people, Erik Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, as per the August 2024 official US government press release.
Back in August 2024, the US Justice Department said in a press release, “In total, five defendants, including two doctors, have been charged in this matter.”
Kenneth Iwamasa is said to have conspired with the others to illegally obtain the drug and distribute it to his then-boss Perry. He admitted to repeatedly injecting the actor with the strong drug without medical training. The Justice Department press release detailed that he injected Perry multiple times on October 28, 2023, the day the Friends star died.
Finally, the other doctor to have pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine is Mark Chavez. In his plea agreement, as detailed in the official press release, he admitted to selling the drug to Plasencia.
“Chavez also obtained additional ketamine to transfer to Plasencia by making false representations to a wholesale ketamine distributor and by submitting a fraudulent prescription in the name of a former patient without that patient’s knowledge or consent,” the official release added.
“These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” said then-US Attorney Martin Estrada. “Drug dealers selling dangerous substances are gambling with other people’s lives over greed. This case, along with our many other prosecutions of drug-dealers who cause death, send a clear message that we will hold drug-dealers accountable for the deaths they cause.”
