California doctor to plead guilty to supplying Matthew Perry with ketamine
LOS ANGELES — A California doctor accused of giving Friends star Matthew Perry access to ketamine in the weeks before the actor's overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, according to federal prosecutors.
Dr Salvador Plasencia will plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement on Monday. The plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and the doctor is expected to make his plea in the coming weeks.
Perry – best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends – was found dead in his hot tub in Los Angeles in October 2023. He was 54 and although he'd been open about struggles with depression and addiction, fans around the world were shocked by his death.
According to text messages shared with prosecutors from Dr Mark Chavez — a doctor who already pleaded guilty in the case — Dr Plasencia called Perry a "moron" and wondered how much he'd be willing to pay for the drugs.
According to documents filed for the plea agreement, Dr Plasencia injected Perry with ketamine at his home and in the parking lot of the Long Beach Aquarium. Dr Plasencia taught Perry's assistant — who is also a defendant — how to administer the drug and would sell extra vials for them to keep at home, according to the plea deal.
The doctor is one of five people charged with what prosecutors allege was an underground network of dealers and medical professionals who supplied Perry with ketamine. The actor was taking legal, prescribed amounts of the drug to treat his depression, but wanted more than what was prescribed.
In total, the plea agreement says, between 30 September 2023, and 12 October 2023, Dr Plasencia sold twenty 5ml (100mg/ml) vials of ketamine, less than a full package of ketamine lozenges, and syringes to Perry and his assistant.
Dr Plasencia's lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment. — BBC
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
6 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Gunmen storm Mexican village hall and shoot mayor
MEXICO CITY — Gunmen have killed the mayor of the Mexican municipality of San Mateo Piñas in the latest deadly attack on local officials. Witnesses said four armed men arrived on motorcycles, stormed the village hall and opened fire on the mayor, Lilia Gema García Soto, and a local official who was in a meeting with her, Eli García Ramírez. Two municipal police officers were also injured in the attack. While officials are still investigating the possible motive for the killing, local officials are often targeted by criminal gangs for failing to do their bidding. García Soto is the second mayor to be killed in Oaxaca state this year. In May, the mayor of Santiago Amoltepec was shot dead in an ambush along with two other people who were in the car with him at the time of the attack. The governor of Oaxaca has condemned this latest killing, adding that the crime would not go unpunished. However, security forces are still searching for the four gunmen, who escaped after the attack. The state prosecutor's office said federal agents had been deployed to the area to help locate them. Violence against local politicians and those running for office in Mexico has been on the rise in recent years, spiking in the run-up to last year's general election. Most of the attacks happened in small towns where organised crime groups are particularly strong, but last month two top aides of the mayor of Mexico City were shot dead in the capital in an escalation of violence which shocked the country. — BBC
Saudi Gazette
7 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
California doctor to plead guilty to supplying Matthew Perry with ketamine
LOS ANGELES — A California doctor accused of giving Friends star Matthew Perry access to ketamine in the weeks before the actor's overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, according to federal prosecutors. Dr Salvador Plasencia will plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement on Monday. The plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and the doctor is expected to make his plea in the coming weeks. Perry – best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends – was found dead in his hot tub in Los Angeles in October 2023. He was 54 and although he'd been open about struggles with depression and addiction, fans around the world were shocked by his death. According to text messages shared with prosecutors from Dr Mark Chavez — a doctor who already pleaded guilty in the case — Dr Plasencia called Perry a "moron" and wondered how much he'd be willing to pay for the drugs. According to documents filed for the plea agreement, Dr Plasencia injected Perry with ketamine at his home and in the parking lot of the Long Beach Aquarium. Dr Plasencia taught Perry's assistant — who is also a defendant — how to administer the drug and would sell extra vials for them to keep at home, according to the plea deal. The doctor is one of five people charged with what prosecutors allege was an underground network of dealers and medical professionals who supplied Perry with ketamine. The actor was taking legal, prescribed amounts of the drug to treat his depression, but wanted more than what was prescribed. In total, the plea agreement says, between 30 September 2023, and 12 October 2023, Dr Plasencia sold twenty 5ml (100mg/ml) vials of ketamine, less than a full package of ketamine lozenges, and syringes to Perry and his assistant. Dr Plasencia's lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment. — BBC
Al Arabiya
11 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Doctor Charged With Supplying Matthew Perry Ketamine Will Plead Guilty to Distributing the Drug
A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the 'Friends' star's overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday. Dr. Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said the plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Plasencia is expected to enter the plea in the coming weeks. Plasencia and a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer had been the primary targets of the prosecution after three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation. Plasencia had been scheduled to start trial in August. An email to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered. The 'Friends' star Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28, 2023. The medical examiner ruled that ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common. Perry, 54, began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before the actor's death, he found Plasencia, a doctor who, in turn, allegedly asked another doctor, Mark Chavez, to obtain the drug for him, according to court filings in the Chavez case. 'I wonder how much this moron will pay Plasencia,' texted Chavez, according to court filings from prosecutors. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Santa Monica, California, where Plasencia practiced, and San Diego, where Chavez practiced, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the filings said. After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry's go-to, prosecutors said. While Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of Perry's ketamine in his final weeks, another defendant, Jasmine Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major ketamine dealer, is alleged to have provided the dose that killed the actor. She is also scheduled to go to trial in August. She has pleaded not guilty–making her the only one of the five people charged in Perry's death who has not entered a plea agreement. Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on 'Friends,' when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC's megahit.
