One of the physicians who supplied ketamine to “Friends” star Matthew Perry appeared in a Los Angeles federal court Wednesday morning to plead guilty to multiple drug charges connected to the actor’s death.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, known to Perry as “Dr. P.,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of ketamine distribution. Plasencia, 43, supplied the drug to Perry through his live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, one of three defendants who pleaded guilty last year to their own connected charges.
“While Dr. Plasencia was not treating Mr. Perry at the time of his death, he hopes his case serves as a warning to other medical professionals and leads to stricter oversight and clear protocols for the rapidly growing at-home ketamine industry in order to prevent future tragedies like this one,” his lawyer, Karen L. Goldstein, said in a statement.
Goldstein said her client was “profoundly remorseful” for his role in supplying ketamine to Perry, who was vulnerable due to his history of addiction.
The doctor agreed in addition to the plea deal signed last month to give up his medical license within the next 30 to 45 days.
Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison along with $2 million in fines. His voice was quiet during the hearing Wednesday, with Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett asking him to speak up as he relinquished his right to a jury trial.
Perry, 54, who was found in his Pacific Palisades home’s hot tub in October 2023, died from the acute effects of ketamine. Authorities allege the actor’s final dose, injected by Iwamasa, was sourced from the “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, who pleaded not guilty and has a trial date set for Aug. 19.
Plasencia dabbed his face repeatedly with a cloth as prosecutors read out the charges, detailing how he sold the drug to Perry for thousands of dollars, sometimes administering it in the back of cars in parking lots.
Plasencia will remain out on bail until his sentencing on Dec. 3 on request from his defense lawyer, who argued that he is one of the primary caretakers of a 2-year-old son.
His Calabasas urgent care clinic, which remains open, requires patients to sign waivers that explain the charges against him.
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