Five charged in Perry’s death

Five defendants, including two doctors and a domestic aide who worked for him for almost two decades, have been formally charged in connection with the death of FRIENDS actor Matthew Perry.

FRIENDS actor Matthew Perry dies

Perry’s death at 54, in October 2023, shocked his countless fans worldwide. Perry was found floating face down in a stand-alone jacuzzi at his Pacific Palisades home. The actor died as a result of “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy report.

The five people charged now include two doctors, Perry’s live-in personal assistant and a person referred to by authorities as “The Ketamine Queen,” according to a press release from the US Attorney’s office.

US Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendants “took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues.”“They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said. Three of the five charged have reached a plea agreement.

“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the press release.

Perry developed an addiction to ketamine while seeking treatment. When his regular medical professionals refused to help, he was introduced to the two charged doctors. Jasveen Sangha, 41, the drug dealer also known as “The Ketamine Queen,” and licensed doctors Dr. Salvador Plascencia, 42, and Dr. Mark Chavez are said to have orchestrated the plan together with another street dealer.

When announcing the charges on Thursday, Estrada said investigators noted Perry’s vulnerability as a recovering addict. US Attorney Martin Estrada revealed that the medical professionals provided Perry with a substantial amount of ketamine, a drug typically used as an anaesthetic. Additionally, it was uncovered that the doctors discussed how much the former Friends star might be willing to pay in a series of text messages, using derogatory language to refer to him.

In a text exchange between them, one doctor reportedly said, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

Perry, driven by desperation had paid $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost the physicians about $12.

Estrada alleged that Plasencia worked with Dr. Mark Chavez to supply Perry with Ketamine, which Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, would inject the actor with despite having no medical training.

Chavez, a 54-year-old doctor from San Diego, “has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine,” according to the release.

Iwamasa, a 59-year-old from Toluca Lake, California, pleaded guilty on August 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, the release said.

Authorities allege that Iwamasa also “performed multiple injections on Perry on October 28, 2023 – the day Perry died.”

“We allege each of the defendants played a key role in his death by falsely prescribing, selling, or injecting the ketamine that caused Matthew Perry’s tragic death,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

The Los Angeles Police Department began an investigation into the star’s death in May. An investigative source with the The Drug Enforcement Administration and US postal inspectors were also involved in the investigation.

(Agencies; Picture Courtesy: Reuters)