A total of five people have now been charged in relation to the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry.
The Friends actor tragically died at the age of 54 last October after taking the drug ketamine and drowning in his hot tub.
A police investigation was subsequently launched to determine how Perry obtained the drugs that contributed to his death and authorities in California have now started making arrests.
Federal officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Los Angeles announced that three of the defendants, including a doctor and the actor's assistant, are in plea agreements for federal drug charges in connection with Perry's death.
The three include Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died; Dr Mark Chavez, a licensed medical doctor who admitted in court documents to selling ketamine to Plasencia; and Eric Fleming, who admitted in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, the DOJ said.
"These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves," US Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press briefing.
"They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyway."
The lead defendants in the case are Jasveen Sangha, allegedly known as 'The Ketamine Queen', and Dr Salvador Plasencia, a licensed medical doctor known as Dr P.
Plasencia allegedly worked with Chavez to obtain ketamine and, with Iwamasa, to distribute that ketamine to Perry. Over two months, they distributed approximately 20 viles of ketamine to Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash, Estrada said.
"Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr Perry," Estrada said, noting that the doctor allegedly wrote in text messages, "I wonder how much this moron will pay," and that he wanted to be the actor's "go-to for drugs".
The vials cost the doctors $12 but they were selling them for $2,000 to Perry, authorities said.
Perry died on 28 October 2023 at the age of 54. He was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
© Cover Media
