CNN
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, five people have been charged in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry in 2023.
The charges were announced at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday morning and came after investigators said they uncovered an underground network of drug dealers and suppliers responsible for distributing the potentially lethal drug ketamine that killed Perry.
The defendants include two doctors, Perry’s personal assistant who lives with him, and a person authorities call the “ketamine queen,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
US Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendants had “exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction problems.”
“They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.
Three of the five defendants have reached a plea agreement.
The other two defendants, Dr. Salvador Plasencia of Santa Monica, California, and Jasveen Sangha, who Estrada said ran a “drug trafficking operation” in her home, were charged on Wednesday, the U.S. attorney said.
Plasencia pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation. He was held on $100,000 unsecured bail and surrendered his DEA license, which allowed him to prescribe controlled substances, by order of Judge Alka Sagar. His trial is set for October 8.
Sangha pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining drug-dependent premises, one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, one count of possession of ketamine with intent to distribute, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.
The judge revoked a bail Sangha previously had on another charge, which was not named in court, and ordered her to remain in custody. Prosecutors argued that she posed a “significant flight risk” because she travels extensively internationally, holds both American and British citizenship, and appears to be financing herself through drug sales.
CNN has contacted lawyers for Plasencia and Sangha for comment.
The popular actor, who played the role of Chandler Bing on Friends, died in October 2023 at the age of 54. Perry was found floating facedown in a freestanding hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home. The actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning, according to the autopsy report from the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their positions of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials,” DEA Director Anne Milgram said in the press release. “Every day, the DEA works tirelessly with our federal, state and local partners to protect the public and hold accountable those who distribute deadly and dangerous drugs – whether they are local drug dealers or doctors who break their oath to care for patients.”
CNN has asked representatives from Perry’s foundation and his “Friends” colleagues for comment on the charges announced Thursday.
In announcing the charges on Thursday, Estrada said investigators believe Perry “relapsed into addiction” in the fall of 2023, citing Perry’s vulnerability as a recovering addict.
Estrada alleged that Plasencia worked with Dr. Mark Chavez to supply Perry with ketamine, which Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa injected into the actor 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,” the press release said.
Iwamasa, a 59-year-old from Toluca Lake, California, pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death, the press release said. Authorities allege Iwamasa also “administered multiple injections to Perry on October 28, 2023 – the day Perry died.”
Eric Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, California, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney. Fleming said in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, which Fleming said he received from Sangha, the news release added.
Fleming’s attorney did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. CNN has contacted attorneys for Chavez and Iwamasa.
Estrada said Perry was given “approximately 20 vials of ketamine” over the course of two months, from September to October 2023, costing him approximately $55,000.
“Defendant Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit from Mr. Perry,” Estrada said. “He texted in September 2023, ‘I wonder how much this idiot will pay.’ He also stated in the text messages that he wanted to be Mr. Perry’s sole source of supply.”
Perry had described in detail his decades-long struggle with drug addiction in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. He wrote that he began abusing prescription drugs after he was involved in a jet ski accident on the set of the 1997 film Fools Rush In and was prescribed Vicodin.
According to his book, Perry eventually increased his dosage to as many as 55 pills a day, which led to significant weight loss that was visible during his time on Friends. He noted that it was difficult to watch the physical transformation he went through during his time on the show.
“I was so incredibly thin and so depressed by the disease,” Perry wrote.
Ketamine has been used more and more frequently in recent years as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. According to the Associated Press, people close to Perry told medical examiners that he had received ketamine infusion therapy and had been treated by at least two doctors before his death.
Milgram added in the press conference that “the desperation that led Perry to these individuals did not meet with the help that it should have received from doctors.”
“This breach of trust is at the heart of this tragedy.”
She added: “Maybe what happened … can help others and save lives.”
Perry’s death came as a shock as he was a popular character in the series “Friends” between 1994 and 2004, where he starred alongside Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow.
After Perry’s death, they released a joint statement in which they wrote: “We are all deeply saddened by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just colleagues. We are family.”
“There is so much to say, but right now we are taking a moment to grieve and process this incredible loss,” their representatives said in a statement. “Over time, we will say more when we are able. Right now, our thoughts and love are with Matty’s family, friends and everyone who loved him around the world.”
In May, Los Angeles Police Department Captain Scot Williams told CNN that the investigation into Perry’s death was ongoing and criminal in nature.
Williams said authorities were investigating how Perry got the drugs and who may have supplied them. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were also involved in the investigation.
During the press conference, both Estrada and LA Police Chief Dominic Choi denied the notion that they focused on this investigation and launched a wide-ranging case because of Perry’s socioeconomic status.
“The life of every victim matters,” Estrada said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
