Two doctors and a live-in personal assistant to Matthew Perry are among the people charged following a months-long investigation into how the prescription drug ketamine that contributed to the actor’s death was procured.
Prosecutors on Thursday charged five people in connection with the death of the “Friends” star, who was found dead in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28. Trace amounts of ketamine — which is sometimes used to treat depression — were found in his stomach, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
But the level found in his blood was about the same as would be used during general anesthesia, his autopsy showed.
Since then, authorities have been working to determine how Perry got the drug, which caused cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression. Ketamine is a legal medication commonly used as an anesthetic, but it can be abused recreationally, with users drawn to it for its disassociative effects.
The Times reported in June that investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Service had linked several people to procurement of the ketamine.
The named defendants in the case include two physicians, Perry’s live-in personal assistant who authorities say injected him with ketamine and a dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” by federal agents.
Here’s what we know about the people named in the indictment, which was unsealed Thursday:
Jasveen Sangha, 41, also known as the “Ketamine Queen” The North Hollywood woman was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine and five counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say Perry’s personal assistant began obtaining ketamine for the actor from Sangha and a street dealer in mid-October. She is accused of selling about 50 vials of the drug to the actor for $11,000.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, referred to as “Dr. P” Federal prosecutors say a month before Perry’s death, Plasencia learned that the actor was interested in obtaining ketamine. He is accused of injecting Perry with ketamine at his Pacific Palisades home on Sept. 30 and then leaving vials of ketamine, syringes and injection instructions for Perry’s assistant. Plascencia was charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.
Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, Perry’s live-in personal assistant Iwamasa pleaded guilty Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing several injections on the actor the day he died, authorities said.
Dr. Cesar Chavez, 54, a San Diego-based physician Chavez admitted in a plea agreement that he sold ketamine to Plasencia, including some he diverted from his former ketamine clinic, according to prosecutors. He also made false statements to a wholesale ketamine distributor and submitted a false prescription in the name of a former patient without that patient’s knowledge or permission, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine in connection with Perry’s death.
Eric Fleming, 54 Fleming, described by prosecutors as a drug dealer and acquaintance of Perry’s, admitted to authorities that he received vials of ketamine from Sangha and distributed 50 vials of the drug to Iwamasa, half of them four days before Perry’s death. Fleming pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of ketamine that resulted in death.
Narcotics including methamphetamine and ketamine were seized in a raid on Jasveen Sangha’s North Hollywood home on March 19. Sangha, dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” by investigators, is charged in the death of actor Matthew Perry.
(U.S. District Court)
Sangha was arrested in March on narcotics charges and posted a $100,000 bond in a separate case.
During a raid at Sangha’s home on March 19, authorities seized 1,978 grams of methamphetamine pills, 79 bottles of liquid ketamine, 2,127 grams of pills suspected of being Xanax, 323 grams of a substance suspected of being psilocybin mushrooms and 128 grams of suspected cocaine, according to federal prosecutors. Authorities also found a journal in her home that detailed thousands of dollars in drug transactions, according to Thursday’s indictment.
Prosecutors say that Perry was not the only victim who overdosed on Sangha’s product.
In August 2019, she sold ketamine to Cody McLaury hours before his death. One of McLaury’s family members texted Sangha: “The ketamine you sold my brother killed him. It’s listed as the cause of death,” according to court records.
Days later, according to the records, Sangha searched on Google, “can ketamine be listed as a cause of death[?]”
