Two of the five defendants in the 2023 ketamine death of Matthew Perry have pled guilty, while a third has agreed to a plea deal, Los Angeles prosecutors announced Thursday.
Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake pleaded guilty on July 5 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Meanwhile, Perry’s acquaintance Erik Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne pleaded guilty on July 12 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Following Thursday’s press conference announcing the charges, Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
The two remaining defendants are Jasveen Sangha, 41, of North Hollywood, the so-called “Ketamine Queen,” and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a.k.a. “Dr. P,” of Santa Monica. Sangha faces life in prison while Plasencia could be sentenced to 120 years in federal prison.
Weeks before the “Friends” actor was found unresponsive in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023, prosecutors say the defendants conspired to distribute an illegal, unethical and fatal amount of ketamine to him, despite his history of addiction.
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects and is prescribed in low-doses to treat depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD. According to the autopsy, the high levels of ketamine in Perry’s system that could be lethal would have caused an overstimulated heart and slowed/shallow breathing, leading to his death by drowning. Perry was found unresponsive in his hot tub in October 2023.
On Sept. 30, 2023, Plasencia texted fellow doctor Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay [for ketamine]. Let’s find out,” per E. Martin Estrada, United States Attorney for the Central District of California.
According to a newly unsealed 18-count superseding indictment, Sangha’s distribution of the drug on Oct. 24, 2023, caused Perry’s death four days later. Iwamasa also admitted to “repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training,” including multiple times on the day of the actor’s death, according to the Department of Justice.
“[Our] investigation has revealed a broad, underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others,” Estrada confirmed in Thursday’s press conference. “These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. 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,” he continued. “In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being.”
Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he sold the drug to Plasencia. Chavez also confessed to procuring more ketamine illegally by submitting a fraudulent prescription and using the name of a former patient without that patient’s consent or knowledge.
Additionally, Sangha has further been charged in the 2019 overdose death of fellow victim Cody McLaury, per the DOJ.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this reporting.
