One of the doctors linked to Matthew Perry’s death has officially pleaded guilty.
On Wednesday, July 23, Dr. Salvador Plasencia entered a guilty plea to four counts of ketamine distribution during a court hearing in Los Angeles. The move follows a plea deal reached in June, with the doctor now facing up to 40 years behind bars.
Plasencia’s lawyer, Karen Goldstein, shared a statement via ABC News, saying, “Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made providing ketamine to Matthew Perry. He is fully accepting responsibility by pleading guilty to drug distribution.”
As part of the deal, Plasencia will give up his medical license and is expected to do so within 30 to 45 days. His legal team emphasized that he acknowledges his failure to protect Perry, who had long been open about his battle with addiction.
Prosecutors say Plasencia was introduced to Perry through Kenneth Iwamasa, one of the other individuals implicated in the case. Reports indicate that Perry had been struggling to obtain legal ketamine treatments in hopes of managing his depression.
When Matthew Perry was unable to access legal ketamine treatments, Dr. Salvador Plasencia allegedly stepped in to help. He sourced the drug from another physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, and supplied it to Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who then administered it to the actor. Plasencia even instructed them on how to self-administer the ketamine.
Perry, best known for his role on Friends, was found dead on October 28, 2023, at age 54 after a long and public battle with addiction. According to the official autopsy from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, his cause of death was “the acute effects of ketamine,” with drowning listed as a contributing factor.
Plasencia will remain free on bond until his sentencing on December 3. Prosecutors say he faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts against him.
His conviction follows that of Dr. Mark Chavez, who pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine back in October 2024. Chavez is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
