Ketamine Doctor Accused In Matthew Perry's Death Strikes Plea Deal

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Santa Monica doctor considered one of the main defendants in the death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry has struck a deal with prosecutors and will plead guilty to four federal counts of illegal distribution of the surgical anesthetic ketamine, officials announced Monday.

Salvador Plasencia, 42, also known as "Dr. P," will enter his plea before a federal judge in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to court papers, in late September 2023, Plasencia learned that Perry, a successful actor whose history of drug addiction was well documented, was interested in obtaining ketamine. Ketamine is a general anesthetic whose medical risks require a health care professional to monitor a patient being administered the drug.

After learning about Perry's interest in ketamine, Plasencia contacted San Diego physician Mark Chavez — who previously operated a ketamine clinic — to obtain ketamine to sell to Perry. In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, "I wonder how much this moron will pay" and "Let's find out," according to federal prosecutors.

During September and October of 2023, Plasencia distributed ketamine to Perry and Kenneth Iwamasa — the actor's live-in assistant — outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose on at least seven occasions, the indictment states.

The indictment also says that Plasencia conspired with Chavez about inventory, price, and availability of ketamine to sell to Perry and Iwamasa. Chavez, in turn, sold Plasencia orally administered ketamine lozenges that he obtained after writing a fraudulent prescription in a patient's name without her knowledge or consent, and lied to wholesale ketamine distributors to buy additional vials of liquid ketamine that Chavez intended to sell to Plasencia for distribution to Perry.

Prosecutors said Perry was paying $2,000 per vial of ketamine, while his dealers were paying $12 for each vial.

Perry's 2022 best-selling memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," discusses his years-long struggle with addiction. The "Friends" star, who played the character Chandler Bing in the series, says he went through detox dozens of times.

Perry was found dead Oct. 28. 2023, in a hot tub behind his Pacific Palisades home of a fatal ketamine overdose. He was 54. Five defendants, including the two doctors, were charged in August 2024 in connection with the death.

Chavez, 54, of San Diego, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court in October 2024 to conspiring to distribute the anesthetic ketamine. He is expected to be sentenced in September.

Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections on Perry on the day the actor died. He is set for sentencing in November.

Alleged ketamine dealer Jasveen Sangha, 41, allegedly known as "The Ketamine Queen," of North Hollywood, faces trial in August on charges of conspiracy, maintaining a drug-involved premises, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and other counts. The superseding indictment contends that Sangha's distribution of ketamine on Oct. 24, 2023, caused Perry's death.

City News Service