Five people have been arrested and charged over the death of Matthew Perry, prosecutors said, including the actor’s personal assistant and two doctors.
The doctors supplied the Friends actor, who died at his Los Angeles home in October 2023, with a large amount of ketamine, the US attorney Martin Estrada said, and “took advantage of Mr Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves”.
Perry, 54, had publicly discussed his issues with addiction. He had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety and depression at the time of his death, the Los Angeles medical examiner said in an autopsy report last year, but the examiner found much higher levels of ketamine in the actor’s bloodstream than would be expected from the therapy alone.
The Los Angeles police department and drug enforcement administration said in May that they were working on a joint criminal investigation into how Perry got the prescription medication, and why there was so much of the drug in his system.
“That investigation has revealed a broad underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr Perry and others,” Estrada said on Thursday.
“This network included a live-in assistant, various go-betweens, two medical doctors and a major source of drug supply known as, quote: ‘the ketamine queen’.”
Estrada said five people had been charged.
“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. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr Perry than caring for his well-being,” he said.
Documents filed in federal court in California, reported by the New York Times, accuse the five people, who include Perry’s personal assistant, of being involved in a scheme to procure thousands of dollars worth of ketamine and administer it to Perry.
Jasveen Sangha, whom prosecutors said was known as “the Ketamine Queen”, and Salvador Plasencia, a doctor known as “Dr P”, are among those indicted, per the Times. The pair are charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine; distribution of ketamine resulting in death; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and altering and falsifying records related to a federal investigation.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant, was charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine, the Times reported, citing a person with knowledge of the situation. Mark Chavez, a doctor, and Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry, were also charged.
The court documents revealed text messages sent between Plasencia and Chavez in which the former discussed buying ketamine to sell to “victim MP” – Perry.
In the exchange, Plasencia wrote: “I wonder how much this moron will pay”, and “lets find out”, the Times reported.
Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023. The Los Angeles medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death to be “the acute effects of ketamine”. It said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder, were contributing factors.
An autopsy found levels of ketamine in his blood similar to levels used during general anesthesia.
“At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression,” the autopsy report stated. Perry’s death was ruled an accident, with no evidence of foul play.
Perry, had discussed his history with substance abuse, which he said began at age 14 and intensified during his role on Friends.
