Doctor pleads guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine in weeks before his death

A doctor who was a primary target in the sweeping investigation of actor Matthew Perry’s overdose death has pleaded guilty to supplying the Friends star with ketamine.

Dr Salvador Plasencia became the fourth of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death to plead guilty.

He and a woman prosecutors say was a major ketamine dealer faced the most serious charges after Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28 2023.

Plasencia stood next to his lawyer and said “guilty” four times for four different counts before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in court in Los Angeles.

Plasencia, 43, was to have gone on trial in August until the doctor agreed last month to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the signed document filed in court in Los Angeles.

The charges can carry up to 40 years in prison. He is likely to be sentenced to much less, but there is no guarantee in his agreement.

He spoke only to answer the judge’s questions. When asked if his lawyers had considered all the possibilities of pleas and sentencing in the case, Plasencia replied: “They’ve considered everything.”

“Dr Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry,” the doctor’s lawyer, Debra White, said in an emailed statement after the hearing.

“He is fully accepting responsibility by pleading guilty to drug distribution. Dr Plasencia intends to voluntarily surrender his medical license, acknowledging his failure to protect Mr Perry, a patient who was especially vulnerable due to addiction.”

In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors have agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records.

Prosecutors outlined the charges in court before the plea, and said that he did not sell Perry the dose that killed the actor.

They described, and Plasencia admitted, that Perry froze up and his blood pressure spiked when the doctor gave him one injection, but Plasencia still left more ketamine for Perry’s assistant to inject.

In court, Perry was referred to only as “victim MP”. Plasencia acknowledged that he knew the actor was an addict when he charged him thousands of dollars and gave him ketamine, a drug primarily used as a surgical anesthetic.

Plasencia has been free on bond since shortly after his arrest in August, and will be allowed to remain free until his December 3 sentencing.

Defence lawyer Karen Goldstein assured the judge that he is not a flight risk, saying he was born and raised in the area and is one of the primary caretakers for his son, who is about two-years-old.

Plasencia has already turned over his licence to prescribe controlled substances. He has been allowed to practice medicine in the past year, but he must inform patients of the charges before treating them. Goldstein told the judge he’ll now surrender his medical licence too.

Plasencia left the courthouse with his lawyers without speaking to reporters gathered outside.

“While Dr Plasencia was not treating Mr. Perry at the time of his death,” his lawyer’s statement said, “he hopes his case serves as a warning to other medical professionals and leads to stricter oversight and clear protocols for the rapidly growing at-home ketamine industry in order to prevent future tragedies like this.”

The only remaining defendant who has not reached an agreement with the US Attorney’s Office is Jasveen Sangha, who prosecutors allege is a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” and sold Perry the lethal dose.

Her trial is scheduled to begin next month. She has pleaded not guilty.

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.