The doctor who sold Matthew Perry 20 vials of liquid ketamine and taught Perry’s assistants how to inject it just weeks before the “Friends” actor overdosed in a hot tub, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday at an emotional hearing attended by Perry’s family.
Judgment and justification
“I failed Matthew Perry,” said Dr. Salvador Plasencia addressing the court before being taken into custody. “I should have protected him. … I’m so sorry.”
U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett went beyond the guidelines of eight to 14 months in prison, finding that Plasencia had “abused his position of trust.” She said the doctor didn’t provide the exact batch of ketamine that ultimately killed Perry on Oct. 28, 2023, but that wasn’t because he didn’t try.
She pointed out that Plasencia had texted Perry’s personal assistant the day before Perry’s death: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I’ve been bulking up.” She said Plasencia’s claim that he wanted to help Perry with depression didn’t sound “believable.”
“You exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit, to the tune of $55,000,” the judge said before handing down the sentence, which also includes a $5,600 fine and two years of supervised release. “You and others helped Mr. Perry stay on a path that led to such an end by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.”
Admission of guilt and consequences
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distributing ketamine. He admitted to falsifying treatment records to cover his tracks during the federal investigation. The charge could have meant up to 40 years in prison. The public prosecutor’s office had demanded three years’ imprisonment.
Plasencia asked for no additional time in prison, saying he voluntarily surrendered his medical license — resulting in the loss of his clinic and his livelihood — and that his wife and son moved to Arizona to escape the “backlash” after Perry’s death.
The statements from Perry’s family
Perry’s mother, stepmother and two sisters came to the lectern to address the doctor directly. He sat at the defense table and listened. Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk but decided to so he would see her.
“A terrible hole has been torn in our family,” she said. “They took an oath that doctors take. It’s old, it worked for a long time, but every now and then it gets abused. They pushed it aside.” She described her son as “one of the strongest men I have ever known” and recalled how he survived serious health problems, including a ruptured colon.
“He shouldn’t have died”
“I always thought he couldn’t die, that he shouldn’t die. He always got out of the most critical situations,” she said. Perry trusted that doctors would uphold their Hippocratic oath and do no harm. Plasencia violated this oath.
She then referred to the text message that Plasencia sent to his mentor, Dr. Mark Chavez sent to Perry on the day of the first ketamine sale. “I wonder how much this idiot will pay” and “Let’s find out,” read the messages dated September 30, 2024.
“That’s my boy. I knew how addicted he was, year after year. And he survived all of this only to be called an idiot? There was nothing idiotic about this man. He even knew how to be a successful addict,” she said. “I want you to see: This is the mother. I heard you had a child and wanted to keep your family together. And I want you to see: This is the mother. I’m sorry I had to meet you under these circumstances, but that was a terrible thing you did.”
The sisters’ voices
Perry’s sister from his father’s second marriage said Plasencia “directly” contributed to her brother’s death. “You knew Matthew’s illness left him unable to make good decisions. And you knew how vulnerable he was, but continued to give him exorbitant amounts of ketamine,” Maria Perry said. “They have extinguished one of the most brilliant sources of light we had. I feel desperately alone and afraid.”
Perry’s youngest sister, Madeline Morrison, burst into tears as she spoke. “I’m overprotective and it kills me that I couldn’t protect my brother in the end. My brother’s death turned my world upside down and put a crater in our lives,” she said. “You exploited my brother’s lifelong battle with addiction for a payday.”
Defense assessment
In recent filings, Plasencia’s lawyers acknowledged that he had “turned a blind eye to clear signs of addiction and relapse.” They said Plasencia treated Perry over 13 days from late September to mid-October 2023 — “without sufficient knowledge of ketamine therapy” and without a full understanding of his patient’s addiction. “It was reckless. And it was the biggest mistake of his life.”
In his confession, Plasencia admitted to injecting Perry with liquid ketamine on multiple occasions, including once in a car parked in front of the Long Beach Aquarium. He admitted selling Perry bottles of the dissociative anesthetic for home use — “with no legitimate medical purpose.”
Statement from the defense after the verdict
“Mr. Plasencia accepts today’s sentence with humility and deep remorse,” his attorneys Karen L. Goldstein and Debra S. White said in a statement. “He was a good doctor, loved by those he treated. He is not a villain. And he is someone who made serious mistakes in the off-label use of ketamine — a drug commonly used for depression without consistent standards. The mistakes he made during the 13 days of Mr. Perry’s treatment will stay with him forever.”
Connections to other defendants
Plasencia is one of five people who have now been convicted in connection with Perry’s death. He was arrested last year along with Jasveen Sangha, the woman prosecutors dubbed North Hollywood’s “ketamine queen.” Sangha pleaded guilty in September and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10.
As part of Plasencia’s deal, prosecutors agreed that the ketamine in Perry’s body at the time of his death did not come from Plasencia. They said Sangha sold Perry 25 vials of liquid ketamine on October 14, 2023, and another 25 10 days later. On the day of Perry’s death, his assistant Kenneth Iwamasa gave the actor three injections of the ketamine supplied by Sangha. (An autopsy revealed that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine at his home in Pacific Palisades.)
The structure of the accusation
When federal officials released their 18-count indictment last year, they referred to Plasencia and Sangha as the “primary defendants.” You said, Iwamasa, Dr. Chavez and Erik Fleming — a local man who allegedly acted as a middleman in the ketamine sales to Perry — had already accepted deals.
Officials said Perry became addicted to intravenous ketamine when he visited a local clinic for depression and anxiety in the fall of 2023. When the clinic refused to increase the dosage, Perry contacted the four suppliers charged in the case.
Money and motivation
Prosecutors say Plasencia and Chavez delivered 20 vials of liquid ketamine in exchange for $55,000 cash in the final weeks of Perry’s life. Doctors charged Perry $2,000 for a single bottle that cost Chavez about $12.
Dr. Chavez is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17th. Fleming has his trial set for January 7, while Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14.
Assessment by the public prosecutor
Prosecutor Ian Yanniello said in court Wednesday that while Plasencia did not supply the ketamine that led to Perry’s death, it did provide “the guidance and training” and the syringes that enabled Iwamasa to inject Perry on the day of his death. “It wasn’t medical treatment, it was drug dealing,” Yanniello said. “He was a drug dealer in a white coat.”