A doctor who sold ketamine to Matthew Perry that caused his fatal drug overdose has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Dr Salvador Plasencia, an LA-based doctor known as Dr P, pleaded guilty in July to giving the Friends star the powerful sedative in the months leading up to his death in 2023.
Perry, who had a history of alcohol and substance abuse, was found dead inside the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades mansion with the coroner later determining he died from “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning. He was 54.
At the time, the actor had reportedly been taking the surgical anaesthetic legally as a treatment for depression.
But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide the sedative as frequently and in high amounts, the actor turned to Plasencia, who admitted to illegally selling the drug to Perry despite knowing he had battled addiction in the past.
According to court findings, Plasencia had texted another doctor, San Diego-based Dr Mark Chavez, to say that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia is said to have texted, while adding “let’s find out”.
In the two months leading up to his death, Plasencia and Chavez are claimed to have sold about 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $US55,000 ($83,000).
Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to be sentenced in relation to Perry’s overdose, however the medic was not accused of selling the actor the dose that investigators say killed him that fateful night on October 28, 2023.
“You and others helped Mr Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction,” US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said as she handed down the sentence in a LA federal courtroom on Wednesday local time.
“You exploited Mr Perry’s addiction for your own profit,” the judge said.
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, stepfather Keith Morrison, and two half sisters delivered heartbreaking victim impact statements before Plasencia was sentenced.
“He wanted, needed, deserved… a third act. It was… in the planning. And then, those jackals,” his mother and stepfather read from their joint letter in the courtroom.
“The world mourns my brother. He was everyone’s favourite friend,” his half-sister Madeleine Morrison said of the actor, who played the loveable Chandler Bing on Friends.
Plasencia apologised to Perry’s family before he was taken away in handcuffs.
“I failed myself. There is no excuse. I can’t undo what’s been done. I know that,” he said. “I should have protected him, as his mother said. I’m just so sorry.”
The four others charged in the case, including Chavez, Perry’s assistant and the two people who supplied the ketamine dose that killed him, have also pleaded guilty and are set to be sentenced in the coming months.
