Five people have been charged in connection with the death of Matthew Perry, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The actor died on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54 from what was determined to be the acute effects of ketamine.
Two doctors, Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and Jasveen Sangha, a woman described as the “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, were among those charged, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a press conference in Los Angeles.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” Estrada said. “In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his wellbeing.”
Sangha, 41, and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, were arrested Thursday under an 18-count superseding indictment returned Wednesday. Estrada called them the “lead defendants” in the case. He said that starting in September 2023, Plasencia and another doctor facing prosecution, Dr. Mark Chavez, distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash.
“Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr. Perry. He wrote in a text message in September 2023, ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay?'” Estrada said Thursday. “He also stated in text messages that he wanted to be Mr. Perry’s sole source of supply. He wrote in a text message that he wanted to be Mr. Perry’s ‘go-to’ for drugs.”
Estrada alleged that Plasencia knew injecting Perry was dangerous because on one occasion, he allegedly saw Perry “freeze up” and suffer a spike in his blood pressure. “Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for defendant Iwamasa to administer to Mr. Perry,” Estrada said. Plasencia also allegedly told another patient in mid-October 2023 that Perry was “spiraling out of control with his addiction,” the prosecutor said.
Iwamasa, 59, pleaded guilty on August 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, officials said. He admitted he repeatedly injected Perry with ketamine without medical training and performed multiple injections on Perry the day he died, prosecutors said.
Estrada said that Perry turned to the alleged “street dealers” charged in the indictment to save money. He said that during the two-week period leading up to Perry’s death, Sangha sold Perry 50 vials of ketamine for $11,000 cash, going through a broker identified as Eric Fleming. The prosecutors said that Sangha is facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted as charged. He said a search of her home found 80 vials of ketamine. Estrada said Plasencia is facing a possible maximum sentence of 120 years if convicted as charged.
Fleming, 54, pleaded guilty on August 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, officials said. He admitted in court documents that he distributed 50 vials of ketamine to Perry through Iwamasa – half of them four days before Perry’s death, prosecutors said.
According to officials, Chavez, 54, of San Diego, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez admitted in his plea agreement to selling ketamine to Plasencia, including ketamine that he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic, prosecutors said. Chavez also obtained additional ketamine to transfer to Plasencia by making false representations to a wholesale ketamine distributor and by submitting a fraudulent prescription in the name of a former patient without that patient’s knowledge or consent, officials said.
In January, the Los Angeles Police Department closed an investigation into Perry’s death, having launched a preliminary investigation despite not having any suspicion of foul play. However, following the autopsy report from the Los Angeles medical examiner, the LAPD launched a joint investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The involvement of the USPS suggested that the mail service was used to transport either drugs or payments.
The autopsy report, filed in December, revealed “high levels of ketamine” found in Perry’s blood at the time of his death, likely resulting in him lapsing “into unconsciousness” and, in turn, causing him to drown. The report also cited coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects as contributing conditions. Perry’s death was ruled an accident.
In the report, the medical examiner noted that while Perry had reportedly been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety, the substances in his system at the time of his death could not have been from the treatment. “His last known treatment was 1 1/2 weeks prior to death,” the report read. “The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less.”
This story was updated on 8/15 to include news of additional arrests.
