Matthew Perry’s death case sees major development: Doctor pleads guilty to ketamine conspiracy

Matthew Perry, famously known for playing the role of Chandler Bing in the NBC television sitcom Friends, was found dead in his backyard swimming pool in southern California on October 23, 2023. The 54-year-old actor was reportedly fighting through a long period of addiction and drug abuse.

His body was retrieved from the pool with the face down. Upon investigation, the medical examiners found a critical amount of ketamine in the body.

The presence of ketamine was not that startling, since Matthew Perry was reportedly suffering from depression and was undergoing ketamine infusion. However, suspicions were aroused when it was found that Perry's last ketamine therapy was more than a week ago before he was found dead.

As per the medical investigators, the amount of ketamine found in his body was equivalent to the dose of anesthesia used for surgery.

On October 2, 2024, Dr. Mark Chavez, one of the two physicians involved in Perry's death case, pleaded guilty to being involved in distributing ketamine in fatal amounts to the actor. The U.S. Attorney's Office has further placed more serious accusations against Dr. Salvador Plasencia - another doctor who is charged with illegally supplying unprescribed quantities of drugs to Matthew Perry.

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Two physicians accused of supplying severe amounts of ketamine to Matthew Perry

Dr. Chavez recently stood for his trial under Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett and accepted that he and Dr. Plasencia had multiple meetings across San Diego and Los Angeles. Dr. Chavez confessed to supplying nine ketamine lozenges and 22 five-milliliter ketamine vials to Perry. As per the authorities, the doctors bought the ketamine vials for $12 but were selling them for $2000 each.

According to an ABC News article, published on August 16, 2024, another suspected woman accused in the case was Jasmine Sangha, or the "ketamine queen." She was known to supply illegal drugs around the Los Angeles neighborhood to support her lavish lifestyle. Jasmine was charged for selling 50 vials of ketamine for almost $11,000 in cast over two weeks.

With citizenship of both the U.S. and Great Britain, Sangha had reportedly sold fatal amounts of ketamine to clients in the past, which also led to a death in August 2019. She pleaded not guilty during her initial hearings, with her attorney arguing that her nickname has been used as a source of defamation. Sangha's next hearing is on October 15, 2024.

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Perry's friend and his assistant were both charged with being involved in the actor's drug overdose

Kenneth Iwamasa, Matthew Perry's assistant, was first reported to discover the actor dead in his backyard swimming pool. As per an AP News report, published on August 16, 2024, Iwamasa assisted the actor in building affiliation with the ketamine drug suppliers. He also agreed to help the actor inject ketamine, without having any formal medical training.

Erik Fleming, a friend of Matthew Perry, collaborated with Iwamasa in buying unprescribed amounts of drugs for the actor, for their profit. On August 8, he was found guilty of providing 50 vials of ketamine, a couple of days before Perry's death.

Further, Sangha is found to have contacts with Fleming in supplying the drugs. Dr. Plasencia is accused of teaching Iwamasa how to inject the ketamine injections into Matthew Perry's body, without any legal permission. Plasencia and Sangha were arrested on August 15, 2024, and their hearing is scheduled for March 4, 2025.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mark Chavez, an alumnus of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, received his medical degree back in 2004. As per his lawyer Matthew Binninger, Chavez has surrendered his medical license. Until his next hearing on April 2, 2025, Chavez remains free on bond but had to back down his passport, per the plea agreement.

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