NEWSMatthew Perry Death: Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to Actor, Faces 40 Years in Prison
One doctor pleaded guilty to supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry, resulting in him overdosing and dying.
June 28 2025, Published 9:36 a.m. ET
One of the doctors who provided Matthew Perry with ketamine in the Friends star's final days is set to plead guilty to multiple counts of distributing the dissociative anesthetic.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged in connection with Perry's overdose in late October 2023, has reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice.
Currently facing four counts of ketamine distribution, the Santa Monica physician could receive a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Originally scheduled for trial in August in Los Angeles, the plea deal announced on Monday renders the trial unnecessary as sentencing approaches.
Matthew Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit TV show 'Friends.'
Taking advantage of Perry's struggle with addiction, Plasencia charged the actor premium prices for the ketamine.
He and fellow physician Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego seemed to think they had struck gold with the actor's desire for the drug.
"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia texted Chavez during their dealings with Perry.
Dr. Mark Chavez pleaded guilty in June.
Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. His body was discovered in a hot tub at his home.
In December 2023, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Perry, who openly battled substance abuse, died from the "acute effects of ketamine."
The autopsy also noted drowning, coronary artery disease, and the influence of buprenorphine — a treatment for opioid addiction — as contributing factors.
An LAPD spokesperson revealed in May 2024 that a federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into Perry's death had been launched.
The results of that ongoing investigation have surfaced in recent months.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Photo of evidence against five arrested in Matthew Perry's fatal drug overdose case.
"At the earliest opportunity requested by the USAO and provided by the Court, appear and plead guilty to Counts Six, Eight, Nine, and Ten of the first superseding indictment in United States v. Salvador Plasencia, which each charge defendant with distribution of ketamine," the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California stated in a June 13 plea agreement made public Monday.
As part of this agreement, the federal government pledged to "recommend a two-level reduction in the applicable Sentencing Guidelines offense level" to the judge, potentially lowering Plasencia's eventual sentence to just a handful of years.
The plea deal is signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello, Plasencia himself, and his attorney Debra S. White. The Department of Justice emphasized that Plasencia has "NOT YET PLEADED GUILTY" (caps theirs) and said, "We expect he will plead guilty in the coming weeks. We will have no further comment."
Kenneth Iwamasa was Matthew Perry’s longtime assistant.
Prosecutors clarified in the plea deal that Plasencia did not supply Perry with the substances that led to his death in Pacific Palisades nearly two years ago.
Chavez and Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, have already entered guilty pleas and are set for sentencing in September and November, respectively.
Former treatment center director Erik Fleming, implicated in administering the fatal dose, pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Highlighted as the person who supplied Perry with the ketamine that ultimately killed him, Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen," is contesting charges of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and more.
Her trial is anticipated to begin later this summer.
