California doctor sentenced for supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry
Plasencia expressed remorse and apologized to the family, acknowledging his failure to uphold his medical oath.
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Daily TribunePlasencia expressed remorse and apologized to the family, acknowledging his failure to uphold his medical oath.
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The late ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry.
Photograph courtesy of IG/Matthew Perry
A California doctor has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for supplying ketamine to late Friends star Matthew Perry, marking the first sentencing in the actor’s overdose case.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, a Santa Monica physician, pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of distributing ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic.
Perry, 54, was found dead at his Los Angeles home in 2023 after years of struggling with depression and addiction. His family detailed in court how Plasencia repeatedly supplied him with drugs, highlighting text messages in which the doctor referred to Perry as a “moron” and discussed payment for the drugs.
In court, Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, emotionally addressed Plasencia: “There was nothing moronic about that man… you should have protected my son.”
Plasencia expressed remorse and apologized to the family, acknowledging his failure to uphold his medical oath.
Along with the prison term, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ordered Plasencia to pay a $5,600 fine.
Four others charged in the case — including another doctor, Perry’s assistant, and two individuals who supplied the fatal ketamine dose — have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Court documents reveal that Plasencia provided Perry with ketamine both at his home and in public locations, and taught Perry’s assistant how to administer the drug. Prosecutors said the network exploited Perry’s addiction to profit financially.
