Authorities revealed the five suspects arrested and charged in Matthew Perry’s overdose death. The „Friends“ actor died in October at his home in the Pacific Palisades.
Matthew Perry relied on a number of people to supply and inject the ketamine that ultimately led to his fatal overdose in October.
Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, announced during a press conference Thursday that five defendants, including two doctors, were arrested and charged with multiple counts in Perry’s death.
Perry’s live-in assistant, defendant Kenny Iwamasa, allegedly learned how to inject ketamine from co-defendant Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who then left vials of the dissociative anesthetic drug for Iwamasa to inject Perry at his home in the Pacific Palisades. The drug was allegedly secured through „The Ketamine Queen“, aka Jasveen Sangha, her co-conspirator, Dr. Mark Chavez, and middleman, Eric Fleming.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Fox News Digital Perry was taken advantage of due to his celebrity status and paid „the ultimate price“ as a result.
„They have these entourages that are many times like leeches“, Rahmani said. „They have a ton of money, and there are people that just take advantage of them and make money off them and milk them.
„Here’s someone with a clear and well-documented opioid addiction. He’s on meds to try to deal with that addiction, and he’s very public about it. And, you know, there are people who are charging him thousands and thousands of dollars for ketamine and taking advantage of that addiction. It’s really sad.“
In text messages disclosed in the indictments, Plasencia allegedly wrote to Chavez, „I wonder how much this moron will pay“ and „Lets find out.“ Both Plasencia and Chavez were medical doctors licensed to practice in the state of California, according to the indictment.
Estrada said at one point that the defendants distributed approximately „20 vials for approximately $50,000 in cash“ to Perry for Iwamasa to distribute the drug to the actor. During another sale, the dealers „took advantage of Mr. Perry“ by selling approximately „50 vials of ketamine for approximately $11,000 in cash.“
Iwamasa admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections on the day Perry died. He pleaded guilty Aug.
