Doctor Tied to Matthew Perry’s Fatal Ketamine Dose Just Pleaded Guilty

Matthew Perry was found dead on October 28, 2023.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy report, the cause was due to “the acute effects of ketamine,” with drowning listed as a contributing factor. He was 54.

Now, one of the doctors accused of fueling the Friends actor’s addiction has broken his silence.

On Monday, June 16, Dr. Salvador Plasencia agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine in connection to Perry’s death — he faces up to 40 years in prison.

Plasencia is the fourth person to plead guilty in connection with Perry’s death, joining the Fools Rush In star’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, Dr. Mark Chavez, and Erik Fleming. A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha — who prosecutors say was known to clients as the “Ketamine Queen” — has pleaded not guilty.

According to prosecutors, Plasencia was introduced to Perry through Iwamasa in late September 2023. With Perry reportedly struggling to access legal ketamine treatments for depression, Plasencia stepped in — obtaining the drug from Chavez and delivering it directly to Perry’s home. He also taught Iwamasa how to administer the injections himself.

Court documents detail a series of exchanges involving large cash payments, unprescribed vials, and text messages between the men including one in which Plasencia allegedly joked to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

According to the assistant’s guilty plea, Perry allegedly told him to “shoot me up with a big one” on the morning of his death. Just hours later, he was found unresponsive in his backyard jacuzzi.

“These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement when the charges were announced last year. “Drug dealers selling dangerous substances are gambling with other people’s lives over greed. This case, along with our many other prosecutions of drug-dealers who cause death, send a clear message that we will hold drug-dealers accountable for the deaths they cause.”

Per the DOJ, Plasencia is expected to formally enter his plea in federal court in the coming weeks.