Matthew Perry had been seriously addicted to drugs when he was found dead on Oct. 28, 2023, despite previously claiming to have been sober for years, police said Thursday.
U.S. District Attorney Martin Estrada has charged five people, including two doctors, in the “Friends” star’s death. He said at a press conference Investigators found that Perry had relapsed by last fall.
“Mr. Perry relapsed into drug addiction and the defendants exploited that to their advantage,” he said.
Estrada added that as a physician, Dr. Salvador Plasencia “was fully aware of the dangers of what he was doing” when he gave Perry more ketamine than necessary.
“Indeed, at one point he injected Mr. Perry with ketamine and witnessed Mr. Perry stiffen and his blood pressure spike,” the district attorney explained.
“Despite this, Defendant Iwamasa left an additional vial of ketamine for Perry to administer.”
Iwamasa was Perry’s longtime personal assistant, worked for him for more than 25 years, and was the person who ultimately administered the fatal dose of ketamine that caused Perry’s death.
But Plascencia is a prime co-defendant in the case along with Jasveen Sangha, a street dealer and “Ketamine Queen” who illegally sold controlled substances.
They were each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, while Plascencia was additionally charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying and altering documents or records in connection with a federal investigation.
Sangha is also charged with one count of maintaining a drug facility, one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, one count of possession of ketamine with intent to sell and five counts of selling ketamine.
Plascencia faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the ketamine charges and up to 20 years in federal prison for the records falsification charge, while Sangha faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. According to the Department of Justice.
The two pleaded not guilty Thursday and their trials are scheduled for October.
Drug “broker” Eric Fleming and Plascencia’s co-conspirator, Dr. Mark Chavez, were also indicted but took plea deals with Iwamasa.
Estrada said evidence obtained by police showed how aware Plascencia was of his misdeeds, with Plascencia allegedly once sending a shocking text message saying: “I wonder how much this idiot is gonna pay.”
The lawyers argued that Dr Plascencia, who worked as an emergency medicine physician, had told another patient in mid-October 2023, days before Ms Perry’s death, that Ms Perry’s “addiction was getting out of control.”
“Nonetheless, Plascencia continued to provide ketamine to Perry,” Estrada noted.
“Similarly, Defendant Sangha knew her actions were harming Defendants and Mr. Perry. She sold large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry over a two-week period in October and took advantage of Mr. Perry.”
The district attorney alleged that the “Queen of Ketamine” sold the “Whole Nine Yards” star about 50 bottles of ketamine for about $11,000 in cash.
He added: “As I have said, the defendants in this case knew what they were doing was wrong.”
Perry has been publicly open about his struggle with drug addiction for decades.
In his bestselling autobiography, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” he candidly describes his experiences, including how heavy drug use caused his colon to rupture and nearly killed him.
Perry claims his addiction began after a skiing accident while filming Fools Rush In in 1997.
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” he said. told people in 2002. “But from the beginning, I loved the feeling it gave me and I wanted more. I was out of control and it was very unhealthy.”
Perry has reportedly spent around $9 million trying to overcome his drug addiction over the years, even going to extreme measures such as supergluing his hands together to prevent him from touching drugs.
Ketamine therapy was likely one way he tried to overcome his addiction, as medical experts say it is generally safe when administered by a trained medical professional.
But unfortunately, Perry once again spiraled out of control due to unscrupulous actors who allegedly tried to take advantage of him. At the time of his death, the “17 Again” star had 3.54 micrograms of ketamine per milliliter in his bloodstream, three times the normal amount.
It was later revealed that his official cause of death was due to the “acute effects of ketamine,” with other contributing factors including drowning, coronary artery disease, and the opioid buprenorphine.
Perry previously denounced his use of ketamine in his memoir, writing that he often felt like he was “dying” while receiving an infusion, which put him in a dissociative state.
“I’ll keep applying for this job because it’s something different. Anything different is good,” he explained.
“Drinking K makes me feel like I’ve been hit over the head with a giant, happy shovel, except the hangover is worse than the impact of the shovel.”
