Five individuals, including two doctors and the personal assistant of the late actor Matthew Perry, have been charged in connection with his death from a ketamine overdose on October 28, 2023. The charges come as the result of a months-long investigation into the sources of the drugs that led to Perry’s untimely death at 54 years old.
According to federal prosecutors on August 15, 2024, the defendants—Dr. Salvador Plasencia, Dr. Mark Chavez, Jasveen Sangha, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Eric Fleming—played various roles in supplying Perry with large quantities of ketamine in the weeks leading up to his death.
Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit TV show “Friends,” was found unresponsive in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later ruled his death an accident, citing the “acute effects of ketamine” as the primary cause, with other contributing factors including coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.
Dr. Plasencia, 42, and Dr. Chavez, 54, are accused of illegally distributing ketamine to Perry despite being aware of the risks involved. Plasencia has been charged with seven counts of distributing ketamine and two counts of falsifying records related to the investigation. The doctors allegedly sold Perry approximately 20 vials of ketamine for $55,000 in cash.
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen,” is accused of providing Perry with the fatal dose of ketamine. Sangha, who prosecutors claim is a major supplier in an underground drug network, is facing multiple drug-related charges. Authorities believe that the ketamine distributed by Sangha on October 24, just days before Perry’s death, directly led to the actor’s overdose.
Sangha was previously arrested in March in a separate federal case where she was accused of being a high-volume drug dealer. She was released from custody after posting a $100,000 bond, as indicated by court records.
Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, has also been implicated in the case. Iwamasa, who has already taken a plea deal, admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine on the day of his death, despite having no medical training. Iwamasa’s involvement reportedly extended beyond that fatal day, as he had been regularly administering the drug to Perry for weeks. The case also revealed that Iwamasa was working in coordination with the two doctors and Sangha to ensure Perry had a steady supply of ketamine.
Eric Fleming, a 54-year-old acquaintance of Perry, is also facing charges for his role in acquiring ketamine from Sangha and delivering it to Perry. Fleming’s involvement further highlights the complex network that fed Perry’s addiction, as the actor sought out alternative sources for the drug after his regular doctors refused to provide it in the amounts he desired.
The investigation, which has been ongoing since Perry’s death, was a coordinated effort between the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. These agencies worked together to trace the origins of the ketamine found in Perry’s system. The charges against the five defendants come as a significant development in the case, with authorities emphasizing the need to hold those responsible for drug-related deaths accountable.
As stated in an 18-count superseding indictment, the sequence of events that led to Perry’s death commenced in September 2023 when Salvador Plasencia, a doctor from Santa Monica, became aware of Perry’s interest in ketamine.
Plasencia then contacted Mark Chavez, a San Diego physician who previously operated a ketamine clinic. The two doctors soon began discussing how much they could charge Perry for the drug.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, as noted in the indictment. “Lets find out.”
Plasencia proceeded to supply ketamine to Perry and his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59. According to the indictment, Plasencia administered multiple injections of ketamine to Perry and also instructed Iwamasa on how to do the same.
“It was like a bad movie,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to the indictment.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada condemned the actions of the defendants, stating, “These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being.”
The arrests also bring attention to the growing problem of ketamine misuse. Originally developed as a surgical anesthetic, ketamine has seen a rise in off-label use for treating depression and anxiety, despite the risks associated with its recreational use. Perry himself had undergone doctor-supervised ketamine infusion therapy in the weeks before his death, but the toxicology report indicated that the ketamine found in his system at the time of death was not from these treatments.
According to DEA chief Anne Millgram during the Thursday press briefing, Matthew Perry’s downward spiral began with unscrupulous doctors who exploited him for financial gain, ultimately leading to his reliance on street dealers who supplied him with ketamine in unmarked vials.