Doctor Salvador Plasencia has pleaded guilty to illegally supplying the drug ketamine to Matthew Perry, star of the hit television show Friends, in the lead-up to the actor’s 2023 overdose and death in the United States.
On Wednesday, Plasencia appeared before the federal court of Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in Los Angeles to enter his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors.
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Plasencia had previously pleaded not guilty. But as his trial date approached in August, he and his defence lawyers reached an agreement that would see his legal jeopardy lowered.
In exchange for having Plasencia plead guilty to four counts of illegally distributing ketamine, prosecutors dropped three additional counts of illegal distribution and two counts of falsifying records.
When questioned by Judge Garnett, Plasencia indicated his lawyers had exhausted all their options for pleas and sentencing: “They’ve considered everything.”
In a statement afterwards, one of his lawyers, Debra White, conveyed Plasencia’s regrets and indicated the doctor would no longer practice medicine professionally.
“Dr Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry,” White said.
“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.”
Perry — best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the show Friends — died on October 28, 2023, in a hot tub at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. He was 54 years old.
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An autopsy report released in December of that year credited Perry’s death to the “acute effects” of ketamine, while acknowledging other factors. Perry’s coronary artery disease, for example, likely contributed to his death, as well as his long-term struggles with drug use.
Perry had been legally using ketamine to treat his depression. But faced with limits to the amount he could be prescribed, Perry reportedly started to seek additional sources of the drug outside of legal channels.
Plasencia did not supply Perry with the fatal dose of ketamine, according to prosecutors.
But in court on Wednesday, he did acknowledge he provided Perry with ketamine in the month leading up to his death, including 20 vials that contained a total of 100 milligrammes of the drug.
The doctor also admitted to administering one injection and watching Perry’s blood pressure spike. He also said he left some for Perry’s assistant to inject.
In court filings from a separate case, fellow doctor Mark Chavez accused Plasencia of recruiting him to supply ketamine to sell to Perry.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia allegedly said in a text message to Chavez. Prosecutors said the ketamine sale netted $4,500.
Plasencia is the fourth defendant to plead guilty to charges related to Perry’s death.
A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, has pleaded not guilty. Authorities have accused Sangha of giving Perry his fatal dose and say she was a drug dealer known as the “ketamine queen”. Her trial will begin in August.
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