California doctor first to receive prison sentence in Matthew Perry overdose case

A California doctor who supplied ketamine to the late Friends star Matthew Perry has become the first person connected to his death to go to prison, receiving a 30-month sentence.

Dr Salvador Plasencia was one of five people charged in connection with Perry’s death from  in October 2023. The actor’s body was found in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home and  his death was attributed to the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning and coronary artery disease listed as other factors.

Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution to Perry in July and subsequently surrendered his medical licence.

Perry’s parents asked the judge to give Plasencia a lengthy sentence, believing him “most culpable” in their son’s death.

“Matthew’s recovery counted on you saying NO,” his father, John, and step-mother, Debbie, wrote in their victim impact statements. “Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?”

“Sometimes it’s a little easier to understand when a person commits a terrible crime. Maybe in the heat of passion, or because that person makes one very bad decision,” they wrote. “But…a doctor? Who trades on respect, and trust?”

“He wanted, needed, deserved..a third act. It was ..in the planning. And then, those jackals.”

The cast of “Friends.” Clockwise from top left: Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow & Jennifer Aniston. (CREDIT:
Hulton Archive)

In a letter of his own to the judge, Plasencia apologised and said he accepted full responsibility for his actions and role in Perry’s death. He added that he took advantage of Perry’s addiction because his medical clinic was struggling financially.

“I did not set out to harm anyone, but my decisions during those days betrayed my duty as a physician,” Plasencia wrote. “I crossed lines that no doctor should ever cross. No one forced me to do this; it was my own poor judgment and it was wrong.”

Three other defendants – Erik Fleming, Kenneth Iwamasa and Mark Chavez – previously agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

The lone remaining defendant in the case, Jasveen Sangha – the so-called ‘Ketamine Queen’ who is accused of allegedly supplying Perry with ketamine – is scheduled to appear in court next month. Sangha has pleaded not guilty and claims she never met Perry.

It was recently revealed that Perry attended AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings at the  house of Ozzy Osbourne.

Osbourne, who passed away on July 22 at the age of 76, had his posthumous memoir Last Rites published in October. In an extract syndicated by US Weekly, he recalled his memories of Perry. “He used to come to our house for AA meetings, or so my wife tells me,” he wrote. “The funniest, most talented bloke. And he was trying so hard to stay on the right path.”

He continued: “Then one day he listened to his addiction telling him it was OK to get loaded, and that was it — game over. I felt so sad when they said he’d been found in his hot tub, unresponsive, with ketamine in his system. He’d given everything he had to stay clean. But it wasn’t enough.”

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