A licensed physician and an alleged San Fernando Valley drug dealer were arrested Thursday, as suspects in the death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, who was found dead in October.
A total of five defendants face federal charges, including a live-in assistant, two doctors and a woman known as the “Ketamine Queen.” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendants are part of a “broad underground criminal network” that supplied ketamine to Perry and others and “took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves.”
The five defendants charged in connection with the death of Perry, who was found in a hot tub behind his Pacific Palisades home, are:
- Jasveen Sangha, 41, a.k.a. “The Ketamine Queen,” of North Hollywood.
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, a physician who has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, admitting to selling the drug to Plasencia, including ketamine that he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic.
- Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a.k.a. “Dr. P,” of Santa Monica
- Eric Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, who pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, admitting that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, prosecutors said.
- Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake, Perry’s live-in assistant, who allegedly conspired with Sangha, Fleming, and Plasencia to illegally obtain ketamine and distribute it to Perry.
Chavez has been charged under a plea agreement and will be arraigned on Aug. 30. At sentencing, Chavez will face up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Sangha and Plasencia are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha also is charged with one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.
The updated indictment alleges that Sangha’s distribution of ketamine caused Perry’s death. Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.
Plasencia and Sangha both appeared in federal court in downtown Los Angeles Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
Sangha was ordered to remain jailed without bond. Plasencia’s bond was set at $100,000, and he was expected to be released.
Both were given preliminary trial dates in October, although the case is unlikely to proceed that quickly.
“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.”
Local and federal authorities confirmed in May that they were investigating how Perry obtained the prescription drug ketamine, which contributed to his Oct. 28 death at age 54.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was “the acute effects of ketamine.”
According to the court papers unsealed Thursday, in late September, Plasencia learned that Perry, a successful actor whose history of drug addiction was well documented, was interested in obtaining ketamine. The use of ketamine requires a healthcare professional to monitor a patient who has been given the drug.
After learning of Perry’s interest, Plasencia contacted Chavez, who previously operated a ketamine clinic, to obtain ketamine to sell to Perry, prosecutors allege.
In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia allegedly discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
Prosecutors say Perry was paying $2,000 per vial of ketamine, while his dealers were paying $12 for each vial.
Perry’s 2022 best-selling memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” discusses his years-long struggle with addiction. The “Friends” star, who played the character Chandler Bing in the series, says he went through detox 65 times.
Last fall, Perry fell back into addiction, “and the defendants took advantage to profit for themselves,” Estrada said during a press conference Thursday in downtown Los Angeles.
Prosecutors contend that last September and October, Plasencia distributed ketamine to Perry and Iwamasa without a legitimate medical purpose on at least seven occasions. He taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry, selling the drug to Iwamasa to administer to the actor.
Plasencia knew Iwamasa had never received medical training and knew little, if anything, about administering or treating patients with controlled substances, court papers allege.
Beginning in mid-October, Iwamasa also allegedly began obtaining ketamine for Perry from Fleming and Sangha. Sangha has distributed ketamine and other illegal drugs from her stash house in North Hollywood since at least 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Sangha was aware of the danger of ketamine: In August 2019, she sold the anesthetic to victim Cody McLaury in the hours before his death. The indictment alleges that Sangha nonetheless continued to sell the substance.
Using the Plasencia-provided instructions and syringes, Iwamasa injected Perry with the ketamine that was sold to him by Fleming and Sangha, including on Oct. 28, when Perry died after receiving multiple injections. Plasencia allegedly sold the ketamine to Iwamasa despite being informed at least one week earlier that Perry’s ketamine addiction was spiraling out of control, prosecutors say.
After Perry’s death was reported in the news, Sangha texted Fleming, “Delete all our messages,” court papers show.
After the actor’s death, federal agents and detectives with the LAPD executed search warrants at Sangha’s home, where they found evidence of drug trafficking, including about 79 vials of ketamine, roughly 3.1 pounds of orange pills containing methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine, and prescription drugs that appeared to be fraudulently obtained.
If convicted of all charges, Sangha would face a sentence between 10 years and life imprisonment. Plasencia would face up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine-related count and up to 20 years in federal prison for each records falsification count.
Iwamasa and Fleming will face up to 15 and 25 years, respectively, when they are sentenced in their federal cases.
Following news of the arrests, Perry’s stepfather, Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison, issued a statement to NBC News on behalf of the family saying, “We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously. We look forward to justice taking its course.”
Updated at 12:50 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. Aug. 15, 2024
– City News Service
