In Matthew Perry's death, 5 charged including 2 doctors, assistant and woman known as Hollywood "Ketamine Queen"

Federal prosecutors announced criminal charges against five defendants, including two doctors, in the death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry, nearly a year after he was found unresponsive at his home.  

U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said at a news conference Thursday that the defendants distributed "large quantities" of ketamine to Perry and others as part of a "broad underground criminal network." In addition to the two doctors, the defendants include Perry's live-in assistant and a "major source of drug supply known as the 'Ketamine Queen,'" Estrada said. 

"These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves," Estrada told reporters.

"They knew what they were doing was wrong," he said. "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."

The arrests come almost a year after the 54-year-old actor was found in the jacuzzi of his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023. The toxicology report released by the Los Angeles County medical examiner attributed Perry's cause of death to the "acute effects of ketamine," with contributing factors including "drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects." Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.

Since the announcement of the charges, the actor's family released a statement to CBS News saying they are looking forward to justice being served.

"We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew's death... We look forward to justice taking its course," the statement read.

Criminal charges against assistant, doctors, "Ketamine Queen"

Five people in Southern California are facing federal criminal charges in connection with Perry's death.

An alleged drug dealer prosecutors say is known as the "Ketamine Queen" was identified in the federal indictment as Jasveen Sangha, 41, of North Hollywood. She faces up to life in prison if convicted of all charges, according to prosecutors.

The doctors listed as defendants are Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a.k.a. "Dr. P," of Santa Monica, and Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego. The remaining two defendants are Erik Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, and Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake. Fleming was described by federal authorities as a street dealer who acted as a middleman.

Plasencia faces up to 120 years in federal prison, prosecutors say.  

Sangha's North Hollywood home was described by Estrada as a "drug-selling emporium" and has been tied to the 2019 ketamine-related death of a 33-year-old man, according to federal prosecutors. Sangha has been described by prosecutors as a large-scale dealer of meth and ketamine throughout L.A. County.

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. Just weeks before the actor was found unresponsive on Oct. 28, 2023, the defendants allegedly conspired to distribute an illegal, unethical, and fatal amount of ketamine to him, according to federal prosecutors.  

Sangha and Plasencia both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar ordered Sangha to be held without bond and set Plasencia's bond at $100,000. 

Plasencia was released after posting bail. He is allowed to continue his medical practice but the judge ordered that he have all patients sign a form indicating the charges filed against him. 

"It was nothing that rises to the level of criminal misconduct," Plasencia's attorney, Stefan Sacks, said outside the federal court where he was arraigned.

Plasencia's trial date was set for October 8, while Sangha's was scheduled for October 15.

Fleming and Iwamasa have both pleaded guilty to charges, while Chavez has agreed to a plea agreement.

"I wonder how much this moron will pay"

The ketamine distributed to Perry between September and October 2023 was paid for with at least $55,000 in cash, prosecutors said. 

Federal prosecutors say the doctors charged $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost Chavez just $12.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said Thursday that Perry had become addicted to the drug after receiving ketamine treatments for depression and anxiety at a local clinic. The indictment details escalating purchases and injections of the drug over just a few weeks that ended with Perry's death in October 2023. 

"He turned to unscrupulous doctors who saw Perry as a way to make quick money," Milgram said.

On Sept. 30, 2023, less than a month before Perry died, Plasencia allegedly texted fellow physician Chavez after learning that the actor was looking to obtain ketamine. 

"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia allegedly wrote to Chavez. "Let's find out."

Chavez allegedly sent Plasencia a photo of ketamine lozenges and agreed to sell the drug to him. According to prosecutors, the San Diego doctor had obtained them by writing a fraudulent prescription for another patient — without that patient's knowledge. 

Plasencia bought at least four vials of liquid ketamine from Chavez, as well as gloves, syringes, ketamine lozenges and the fraudulent prescription. Prosecutors said Plasencia also texted Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, saying he planned to provide him with vials of ketamine that the actor could administer himself. 

"I will give you first dose if you would like and leave supplies with you," Plasencia allegedly texted the actor.  

"Too far gone and spiraling in his addiction"

The Santa Monica doctor allegedly instructed Perry's live-in assistant Iwamasa — who prosecutors said has no medical training — on how to inject ketamine, leaving him with vials and syringes. Iwamasa handed over $4,500 in cash to Plasencia in exchange for the vials of ketamine, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 4, 2023, Iwamasa texted Plasencia using coded language to discuss buying more ketamine, telling him that he needed "to get more cans of dr pepper from you today, I can come to you to make it convenient."

According to the indictment, Iwamasa texted Plasencia the same day to tell him that he had successfully injected Perry, writing that he "[f]ound the sweet spot but trying different places led to running out" of ketamine.

Plasencia allegedly went to Irvine to purchase more ketamine from Chavez. He then met Perry to inject him again and sold more vials of the drug to Iwamasa. 

Over the following days, according to the indictment, Plasencia worked with Chavez and Iwamasa to keep providing the drug to Perry. Plasencia met Perry and Iwamasa in a public parking lot in Long Beach on Oct. 10, 2023, where the doctor injected the actor with ketamine inside a car.

Two days later, on Oct. 12, 2023, Plasencia allegedly visited Perry's home to sell Iwamasa ketamine that prosecutors said was paid for with $21,500 in cash. That same day, prosecutors said, Perry froze up and his blood pressure spiked when Plasencia injected him again before leaving more vials of the drug at the actor's home.

Another order was placed by Plasencia on Oct. 24, 2023, for 10 vials of ketamine to provide to Perry. Less than a week before Plasencia made the order, he told a patient at his clinic that Perry was "too far gone and spiraling in his addiction," the indictment states.

Prosecutors said Plasencia texted Iwamasa again on Oct. 27, 2023, the day before Perry was found dead, and said:  "I know you mentioned taking a break."

"I have been stocking up on the meanwhile," Plasencia allegedly wrote to Iwamasa. "I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine."

"Delete all our messages"

In the weeks before Perry's death, Iwamasa was also in communication with Fleming, who prosecutors say helped broker ketamine deals with Sangha over the encrypted messaging app, Signal.

According to the indictment, Sangha offered to provide Fleming with a sample for Perry to try, saying of the drug in an Oct. 11, 2023, message that "it's unmarked but it's amazing – he take one and try it and I have more if he likes."

Fleming allegedly sent a screenshot of the message to Iwamasa, telling him that Sangha "only deal[s] with high end and celebs. If it were not great stuff she'd lose her business." 

Two days later, on Oct. 13, 2023, Fleming allegedly drove to Sangha's North Hollywood "stash house" to pick up a sample vial of ketamine and then drove to Perry's home to deliver it to Iwamasa. Later that day, Iwamasa and Fleming communicated again, with Perry's assistant telling the broker that he would purchase "25 vials $5500 @220 +500 for you for logistics." Fleming picked up the ketamine and sold it to Iwamasa the next day.

Iwamasa continued to buy dozens of vials from Fleming in the days that followed, prosecutors said, allegedly spending thousands of dollars on drugs from Sangha's supply. According to the indictment, Sangha included ketamine lollipops as an "add-on" for the large order.

Prosecutors said Fleming distributed the ketamine that killed Perry. According to the indictment, Iwamasa allegedly injected the actor with drugs from Sangha's supply using a syringe he obtained from Plasencia.

When news of the actor's death broke, Sangha allegedly wrote to Fleming over Signal, instructing him to "Delete our messages." 

The criminal charges

Iwamasa confessed to injecting the actor repeatedly, giving him multiple injections on the day he died, according to federal prosecutors. 

Chavez, the San Diego doctor, admitted in his plea agreement that he sold the drug to Plasencia. Prosecutors said that includes some of the substance he diverted from his former ketamine clinic. Prosecutors said Chavez also made false representations to a wholesale distributor of the drug so he could then transfer more of it to Plasencia.

In the plea agreement, Chavez also confessed to procuring more ketamine illegally by submitting a fraudulent prescription, using the name of a former patient without getting that patient's consent and without their knowledge.

The criminal charges detailed in the indictment include:

• Sangha has been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine; one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises; one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine and five counts of distribution of ketamine  
  
• Plasencia has been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine, and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.    
• Fleming pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. 
• Iwamasa pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death
  
• Chavez agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

Perry's cause of death 

In 2023, the Los Angeles County coroner said Perry's death was accidental and that there were no signs of foul play. But months later, the Los Angeles Police Department announced there was an open criminal investigation into the actor's death, which was being assisted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. 

Trace amounts of ketamine were found in Perry's stomach, according to the autopsy report, but the amount discovered in his bloodstream was the same as what would be used in general anesthesia.

At the time of his death, Perry had been undergoing medically supervised ketamine treatments for depression and anxiety. According to the autopsy report, his last prescribed ketamine treatment was a week and a half before his death.

The report also noted that Perry's cause of death was not connected to his prior sessions of ketamine infusion therapy, as the drug's half-life is just three to four hours. So, the ketamine was taken in another manner, according to the report.

What is ketamine?

Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is listed by the DEA as a Schedule III drug, has become known for its use in therapy in recent years.

"There are now uses of ketamine for depression given in clinics," said Angelique Campen, an emergency room doctor at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

"Typically, it doesn't stop your breathing like opioids and other anesthetics would. ... It has an excellent safety profile," she said. "Of course, with any drug, it needs to be given under medical supervision, especially an anesthetic."

She also said ketamine can be "very dangerous" when it's used recreationally.

"Friends" actor known for his "brilliant talent"

The sudden death of Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on "Friends," sent shockwaves through Hollywood. 

His character quickly became a fan favorite on the hit sitcom, known for his lovable, quirky personality as he went from the single-guy roommate to Joey Tribbiani to the husband of Monica Geller. 

In the wake of Perry's death, the show's co-creators and executive producer — Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright — released a statement saying they were "shocked and deeply, deeply saddened," and described Perry as "the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart."

"He was a brilliant talent," the statement read. "It's a cliché to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew's case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us."

The co-stars with whom Perry rose to fame over the show's 10 seasons, from 1994 to 2004, released a joint statement soon after he died.

"We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family," their statement read. "There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."  

In the years after the show ended, Perry spoke fondly about his time as Chandler Bing.

"It's great, it's a wonderful time in my life," he told CBS News in a 2015 interview. "People come up to me that I know were not born when we shot the show, for sure. And they're just surprised at how elderly I look."

Months after his death, Jennifer Aniston, who starred alongside Perry as Rachel Green, spoke about the outpouring of love from fans and colleagues in an interview with Variety.

"It's so beautiful," Aniston said. "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was."

She told the news outlet that she had texted Perry the day he died and he seemed to be in good spirits.

"He was happy. He was healthy," she said. "He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that's all I know."

Perry also starred in films and TV shows such as "Growing Pains," "Ally McBeal," "17 Again" and "The Whole Nine Yards."

In recent years, he had been vocal about his struggles with addiction, addressing them in his best-selling memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing." The book was released two years before he died.