In Matthew Perry's death, 5 charged including 2 doctors, actor's assistant and woman known as "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 just under 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.

Criminal charges against assistant, doctors, "Ketamine Queen"

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

The alleged drug dealer prosecutors say is known as the "Ketamine Queen" was identified in the federal indictment as Jasveen Sangha, 41, of North Hollywood. 

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 Eric Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, and Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake. 

Sangha and Plasencia are scheduled to appear for their arraignments in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles later Thursday. Fleming and Iwamasa have both pleaded guilty to charges while Chavez has agreed to a plea agreement.

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. Federal prosecutors say Fleming admitted to distributing the ketamine dose that killed Perry, providing Iwamasa with 50 vials of ketamine, half of them just four days before the actor died. Fleming obtained the drug from his source, Sangha, prosecutors said.   

Perry's live-in assistant, Iwamasa confessed to injecting the actor repeatedly without any medical training, 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 fellow physician 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 the following.

• 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 

At the time, the coroner said Perry's death was accidental and 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.