Main doctor accused of the death of actor Matthew Perry will declare himself guilty

The doctor suspected to take advantage of the Ketamine addiction of actor Matthew Perry, star of the series «Friends», before his death due to overdose in 2023 he accepted an agreement to declare himself guilty, reported the United States Department of Justice.

The main doctor prosecuted in this case, Salvador Plasencia, plans to declare himself responsible for the distribution of ketamine «in the coming weeks,» the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Monday.

Therefore, he faces up to 40 years in prison in a federal prison.

A second Los Angeles doctor, Mark Chavez, already admitted to having contributed illegally to supply Ketamina to the actor and could pass up to 10 years after bars.

Perry, famous for playing Sarcastic Chandler Bing in «Friends,» had publicly talked about his addiction problems, but his death at 54 shocked the global legions of fans of the series.

The American-Canadian actor consumed ketamine under medical supervision as part of the depression therapy sessions suffered.

But this legal anesthetic is sometimes used for stimulating purposes, and consumed it uncontrollably again in 2023. His relapse led him to fall into the hands of «unscrupulous» doctors, according to researchers.

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Dr. Plasencia is accused of having played a central role in this case, although it was not he who provided the ketamine that killed the actor.

This doctor would have taken advantage of the sick comedian, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

«I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay,» Plasencia wrote in September 2023 in a text message recovered by researchers.

The guilt agreement released Monday highlights that Plasencia received the drug from Dr. Chavez and personally went to Perry’s home to inject ketamine or give it to the star assistant.

In total, Plasencia «distributed 20 bottles» of ketamine to the actor in about fifteen days in the 2023 boreal fall, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

The authorities had said before Ketamina’s bottles cost around $ 12 for the doctors involved, but were sold to Perry for «2,000 dollars.»

Perry was found unconscious in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles on October 28, 2023. The Forensic Report concluded that he died from an accidental overdose of ketamine.

Five suspects are being prosecuted for their participation in Perry’s death.

In addition to Plasencia and Chávez, another accused is Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the «queen of ketamine.»

This American-British citizen sold the Ketamine bottle that killed the actor and faces life imprisonment. He declared himself not guilty.

Perry’s personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, and an intermediary, Eric Fleming, already agreed to declare themselves guilty.

«Little mishaps»

«Friends», issued between 1994 and 2004, became a true cultural phenomenon. The adventures of a group of friends in New York who enter adulthood marked a whole generation of spectators.

But behind cameras, Perry hid a great anguish after his jovial Chandler character. He fought for a long time against his addiction to medicines and alcohol.

In his memories published in 2022, he confessed to having followed 65 rehabilitation sessions, which cost him more than 9 million dollars.

He also underwent several surgical operations related to his drug addiction problems, including seven hours in the colon in 2018. «He should be dead,» he said.

In an appearance on television shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting that he suffered from a serious anxiety «every night» during the filming of «Friends.»

In the memoirs, entitled «Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing», Perry described how he detoxified tens of times.

«I have almost sober since 2001,» he wrote, «except for some sixties or seventy small mishaps.»

AFP