Authorities have announced the arrest of five individuals, including two doctors and a live-in assistant, in connection with the 2023 overdose death of actor Matthew Perry.
The five defendants, including an alleged San Fernando Valley drug dealer, have been charged in an 18-count indictment, authorities said on Aug. 15. The charges include conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of ketamine resulting in death, maintaining drug-involved premises, altering and falsifying records related to a federal investigation, and multiple other drug trafficking counts, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada.
The penalties for those convicted could be severe, with one individual potentially facing a 120-year sentence and another facing life in prison, Estrada said.
“By filing these extensive and serious charges, we are sending a clear message,” Estrada said during the press conference. “If you are in the business of selling dangerous drugs, we will hold you accountable for the deaths that you cause.”
The authorities revealed in their remarks that Perry had paid $55,000 over two months for ketamine from the individuals now facing charges.
Lead defendants are Jasveen Sangha, also known as “The Ketamine Queen,” and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, known as “Dr. P,” both of whom are charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and additional related charges, Estrada said.
Sangha is accused of maintaining a drug-involved premises, possessing ketamine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and five counts of distributing ketamine.
Plasencia faces seven counts of distributing ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents related to the federal investigation. According to the indictment, Sangha’s distribution of ketamine on Oct. 24, 2023, directly led to Perry’s death.
Eric Fleming recently pleaded guilty and admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry, according to a statement announcing the charges.
Fleming allegedly worked with Sangha and other conspirators to supply ketamine to Perry’s live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Iwamasa also pleaded guilty and admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine, including on the day of his death.
“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,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. “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.”
Sangha was allegedly aware of the danger of ketamine, as authorities allege in August 2019 she also sold ketamine to another victim named Cody McLaury in the hours before his overdose death.
After the victim’s family member sent Sangha a text message saying that her ketamine had killed McLaury, Sangha allegedly conducted a Google search for “can ketamine be listed as a cause of death?”
Authorities said that Dr. Mark Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine that resulted in Perry’s death. Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia, including ketamine diverted from his former clinic. Chavez also faces up to 10 years in federal prison upon sentencing, the attorney’s office said.
The indictment alleged that Plasencia and Chavez conspired to distribute ketamine to Perry, with Plasencia teaching Iwamasa how to administer the drug, often without proper safety measures or monitoring.
Sangha, allegedly known for her illegal drug sales from her North Hollywood residence, reportedly continued to distribute ketamine despite being aware of its dangers.
The defendants are expected to be arraigned later on Thursday at the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles, Estrada said.
“These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” Estrada said. “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.”
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Martin Estrada, speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2024, announcing arrests in the death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
The Epoch Times reached out to the attorneys representing those charged in relation to Perry’s death but did not hear back.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in May that it was investigating Perry’s death alongside the DEA and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
In response to an inquiry from The Epoch Times at the time, LAPD Capt. Scot Williams confirmed the investigation and reiterated the results of an autopsy conducted in December 2023, which attributed Perry’s death to high levels of ketamine.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner initially concluded that Perry’s death was an accident, with the medical examiner’s findings sparking the investigation, the officer told The Epoch Times in May.
Perry, 54 at the time of his death, was an American and Canadian actor who gained international fame for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom “Friends.”
He was found unresponsive and floating in the heated end of a pool at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, on Oct. 28, 2023, according to the autopsy report, obtained by The Epoch Times at the time.
Perry’s death was also attributed to contributing factors of drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, which is used for pain management and treatment of opioid withdrawal, the autopsy revealed.
Perry was reported to be receiving ketamine infusion therapy for the treatment of depression and anxiety, according to the autopsy report. However, the medical examiner noted that the actor’s last known treatment was one and a half weeks before his death.
Patricia Tolson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
