Dr. Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to distributing the drugs to actor Matthew Perry, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) stated on Monday.
Plasencia is one of the two doctors charged in connection with the ketamine-related death of the actor.
In the coming weeks, he is expected to formally plead guilty to four counts for the charge of distributing ketamine. According to federal prosecutors, each count carries a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Plasencia is among five people charged in the aftermath of Perry’s death. The 54-year-old “Friends” star who died on October 28, 2023, was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles residence. His autopsy later confirmed that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Plasencia operated an urgent care clinic in Malibu at the time of the incident. He was initially scheduled to go on trial in August. His plea follows the earlier guilty plea of Dr. Mark Chavez. Chavez is the second doctor charged in the Matthew Perry death case.
Chavez pleaded guilty in October 2024 to distributing ketamine. He previously ran a ketamine clinic and is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Chavez submitted a false prescription under the name of a former patient, according to court records. He obtained the drug under a false prescription and supplied ketamine to Plasencia.
Plasencia distributed 20 vials of ketamine, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes, to Matthew Perry, according to the plea agreement records filed on Monday. Between September 30, 2023, and October 12, 2023, He also supplied ketamine to the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
Plasencia “admits that his conduct fell below the proper standard of medical care and that transfers of ketamine vials to Defendant Iwamasa and Victim M.P. were not for a legitimate medical purpose,” the agreement states.
Kenneth Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He is due to be sentenced in November. He admitted in court documents to administering ketamine to Perry on the day he died.
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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