Two doctors and the 'ketamine queen' charged in overdose death of ...

Five people – including two California doctors, a reputed drug dealer known as the "ketamine queen" and Matthew Perry's live-in personal assistant – have been charged in connection with the actor's accidental overdose death, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Perry, 54, was found face down in the heated end of a pool at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, an anesthetic with psychedelic properties.

According to an 18-count superseding indictment, Jasveen Sangha, a North Hollywood resident who sold ketamine and other drugs, provided Perry's assistant with the ketamine that ultimately led to the actor's death. The assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, injected Perry with the drug on the day he died, according to the indictment. The syringe was provided by Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who had also distributed ketamine to Perry and his assistant in the past, the indictment says.

Sangha, 41, and Plasencia, 42, were both arrested on Thursday in southern California.

They were both charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha, a North Hollywood resident who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and U.K., was also charged with several other drug related offenses.

A lawyer for Sangha did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She was arrested in March in connection with a separate federal drug case but was released from custody after posting a $100,000 bond, according to court records.

Plasencia's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iwamasa, Perry's 59-year-old assistant, pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing a death. He admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including on the day the actor died, according to prosecutors.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, a physician based in San Diego, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, prosecutors said. He admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia, including some that he had diverted from his former clinic, according to prosecutors.

The fifth defendant, Erik Fleming, 54, was described in court papers as an acquaintance of Perry's who helped him obtain ketamine. He admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry – drugs that he procured from Sangha, according to prosecutors.

The family of “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison, who is Perry’s stepfather, said in a statement that they welcomed the news of the law enforcement action.

“We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously,” the family said. “We look forward to justice taking its course.”

Los Angeles police said in May that they were working with federal authorities to investigate the source of the ketamine Perry had consumed.

Ketamine has been a popular party drug for decades. In recent years, it has shown promise as an alternative treatment for depression. A growing number of clinics offer it as an infusion or injection for a wide variety of mental health problems.

Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety, but his last session took place more than a week prior to his death. The medical examiner noted that the ketamine in Perry’s system “could not be from that infusion therapy” given its short half-life. 

The levels of ketamine in his body were high — equivalent to the amount used for general anesthesia during surgery, according to the medical examiner.

The coroner ultimately ruled his death an accident. Contributing factors included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder.

Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on “Friends,” had been open about his lengthy struggles with opioid addiction and alcoholism, which he chronicled in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” But at the time of his death, he had been clean for 19 months, according to the medical examiner’s report.

It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to investigate — and in some cases bring charges against — the people who supplied the drugs that caused a high-profile death.

After the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, his private physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for providing the singer with a fatal dose of powerful drugs. More recently, federal prosecutors in New York brought charges against four men who supplied actor Michael K. Williams with the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed him in 2021.