Five charged over ketamine death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry

Actor Matthew Perry attends the 2003 TV Land Awards at the Palladium Theatre in Hollywood on March 2, 2003. At least one person has been arrested in connection with the ketamine overdose death last year of Perry, US media reported on Aug. 15, 2024. NBC, citing law enforcement officials, said one arrest had been made, while TMZ said there had been “multiple” arrests including one doctor, as investigators probed how Perry obtained the drug. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP)

Five people who allegedly supplied illicit ketamine to “Friends” star Matthew Perry in a bid to exploit his drug addiction for profit have been charged in relation to his overdose death, US officials said Thursday, Aug. 15.

The actor died at his luxury Los Angeles home last year, sparking an outpouring of grief from fans around the world.

“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 anyway,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada, announcing the charges.

“In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” Estrada told a press conference in Los Angeles.

The charges were leveled against two medical doctors, Perry’s live-in assistant, a broker and a North Hollywood drug dealer known as “the Ketamine Queen,” who has previously been linked to the overdose death of another man.

Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994 to 2004, was found unresponsive in his swimming pool in October. He was 54.

An autopsy found the cause of his death was “the acute effects of ketamine,” a controlled drug that the recovering addict was taking as part of supervised therapy.

Drug-selling emporium

Estrada said Perry had fallen back into addiction in the autumn of 2023, when he began to be supplied by Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, both medical doctors.

Over two months, they sold him 20 vials of the drug for $55,000. They would pay as little as $12 for each vial, said Estrada.

In one text message exchange obtained by investigators, Plasencia wrote: “I wonder how much this moron will pay… Lets [sic] find out.”

Plasencia, 42, who reportedly worked in the tony Calabasas neighbourhood outside Los Angeles, knew Perry was spiralling out of control, but continued to supply him with the powerful drug.

“On one occasion, he injected Mr. Perry with ketamine, and he saw Mr. Perry freeze up and his blood pressure spike,” Estrada said.

“Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for (Perry’s assistant Kenneth) Iwamasa to administer.”

Perry also obtained dozens of vials of ketamine from Jasveen Sangha, a woman nicknamed “the Ketamine Queen,” working through broker Eric Fleming.

Sangha, 41, sold the batch that would ultimately result in Perry’s death, the press conference heard.

A search of her home found “a drug-selling emporium” that included methamphetamine, cocaine and illegally obtained prescription drugs like Xanax.

Plasencia pleaded not guilty when he appeared with his ankles chained in a Los Angeles court, where he was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and with a raft of other counts.

He was released on $100,000 bail and ordered to inform his patients of the charges he faces.

If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 120 years.

Sangha, who was due to appear in court later in the day, also faces one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, along with other charges. If convicted, she faces a maximum life sentence.

The other three defendants have either pleaded guilty or agreed to do so in relation to their own charges. They face between 10 and 25 years in prison.

Exploitation

Doctors and veterinarians use ketamine as an anesthetic, and researchers have explored its use as a treatment for depression.

Underground users take it illicitly for its hallucinogenic effects, though it can be addictive and is dangerous for people with underlying health problems.

“Friends,” which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive global following and made megastars of previously unknown actors who became fixtures in the lives of millions of viewers.

One of the biggest draws was Perry’s Chandler character, a sarcastic 20-something man-child.

Perry’s comic talent brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a darkness that left him struggling with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.

In 2018 he suffered a burst colon, related to drug usage, and underwent multiple surgeries.

In his memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” published in 2022, Perry described going through detox dozens of times.

“I have mostly been sober since 2001,” he wrote, “save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps over the years.”

Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram told reporters that Perry’s re-entry into destructive drug use began with “unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, and it ended with street dealers who sold him ketamine in unmarked vials.”

“The desperation that led Perry to these individuals was not met with help as it should have been… but instead it was met with exploitation.”