Five arrests made in connection to Matthew Perry’s death as new details emerge
Five more arrests have been made in connection to Matthew Perry’s death. Following an investigation into the cause of his death, his assistant is now among those connected to the alleged crime.
The Friends actor passed away in October 2023 after a fatal overdose. Initial reports said the actor had been found “unresponsive” in his hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home. In the year before his death, Perry had been undergoing ketamine therapy as a legal treatment for depression and anxiety. However, ketamine was later ruled to be the reason for his death, but not through this infusion therapy.
“The ketamine in his system at death could not be that from infusion therapy,” a postmortem examiner on the case concluded. However, Perry was supposedly clean at the time and had been for many months.
In response, a further investigation into Perry’s death was launched, with a first arrest being made earlier this week. TMZ claimed that “at least one doctor has been arrested, along with several dealers who helped arrange and deliver ketamine to Perry.”
Now, it’s been confirmed that five people have been charged in connection to the case, including Perry’s personal assistant and two more doctors. Prosecutors have claimed the case has uncovered a “broad underground criminal network” dedicated to getting the actor the drugs that killed him.
As he announced the charges, Attorney Martin Estrada said that the doctors involved preyed on Perry’s addictions and provided him with amounts of ketamine that they knew would be dangerous. “They knew what they were doing was wrong,” he said. “They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway.”
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” one of the arrested doctors wrote in a text message, according to an indictment unsealed on August 15th. “Let’s find out,” they wrote in another damning message.
Perry’s personal assistant has also been charged in connection to the death as authorities attempt to find out the exact circumstances that led to the actor’s fatal overdose.
Ketamine treatment has seen a huge spike in popularity as a treatment for depression and anxiety. While the drug itself still remains illegal, it’s possible for doctors to prescribe it to patients for “off-label” uses such as this. However, it is not Perry’s regular doctors who have been charged with supplying him the drug.
When his own doctors refused to give him more quantity of the drug, it seems that Perry went looking for ketamine from other sources. “We are not talking about legitimate ketamine treatment,” Estrada said. “We’re talking about two doctors who abused the trust they had, abused their licenses to put another person’s life at risk.”
Estrada claimed Perry paid the doctors about $55,000 in cash in the two months before his death, which was above the typical rate for the substance.
Furthermore, among those arrested was Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and also two charges related to accusations that he falsified records after Perry’s death. Another arrest was Jasveen Sangha, the drug dealer authorities allege that she provided the ketamine that proved lethal. Both could be facing 120 years in prison if convicted of criminal wrongdoing.
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