Dr. Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty to charges Wednesday stemming from Matthew Perry’s accidental overdose in 2023 in a series of cases targeting those who supplied the “Friends” actor with copious amounts of ketamine.
Plasencia agreed last month to plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine and had a formal hearing on the matter in federal court. A judge decided he will remain out on bond until his Dec. 3 sentencing hearing.
According to an agreement with prosecutors, Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison and three years of supervised release. He also faces a fine of at least $2 million, the agreement says.
His attorneys said in a statement on his behalf that Plasencia will voluntarily surrender his medical license, “acknowledging his failure to protect Mr. Perry, a patient who was especially vulnerable due to addiction.”
“Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry,” the statement said.
Perry was found dead at his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023, in what the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office declared an accident from acute effects of ketamine.
Perry was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety, but an investigation found that he was seeking the drug illegally outside of his treatment.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant, was one of five people charged in his death. Iwamasa pleaded guilty last year, and court documents in his case revealed that Perry was experiencing out-of-control addiction.
Iwamasa told authorities that Perry was introduced to Plasencia weeks before he died and that Plasencia sold him both liquid ketamine and ketamine lozenges. He also taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry, Iwamasa said, even though Iwamasa had no medical training.
Iwamasa’s plea agreement said Perry paid Plasencia up to $55,000 for the drug in the month before his death.
Federal prosecutors alleged in court documents that Plasencia told a patient that Perry was “too far gone and spiraling in his addiction” but that he continued to sell him drugs anyway. Text messages between Plasencia and Mark Chavez, a former doctor who pleaded guilty in the Perry case, showed the men mocking how much money they could get from him for ketamine.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia wrote. “Lets find out.”
Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.