Five Plead Guilty in Matthew Perry Ketamine Death as 4 Defendants Draw Up to 15 Years
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · May 13
Five Plead Guilty in Matthew Perry Ketamine Death as 4 Defendants Draw Up to 15 Years
11 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 13
Four defendants have now been sentenced in the prosecution over Matthew Perry’s 2023 ketamine death, with alleged dealer Jasveen Sangha receiving 15 years, the longest term, and assistant Kenneth Iwamasa set for sentencing on May 27.
Prosecutors said the five defendants filled Perry’s demand for off-the-books ketamine after he sought more than his regular doctor would prescribe, creating a supply chain that ended with the dose that killed him at 54.
Erik Fleming, a counselor who connected Perry to Sangha and delivered 50 vials, was sentenced Wednesday to 2 years; Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who sold 20 vials and taught Iwamasa to inject Perry, got 2 1/2 years.
Dr. Mark Chavez, who supplied ketamine to Plasencia after obtaining it under false pretenses, received 8 months of home confinement, while Iwamasa admitted giving Perry six to eight injections a day near the end.
The case is nearing its close after all five pleaded guilty, with Perry’s autopsy finding acute ketamine effects as the primary cause of death and drowning as a secondary cause.
With his sentencing just days away, what will be the fate of the man who administered Perry's final dose?
Why did a ketamine dealer get 15 years while a doctor who supplied the drug received only home confinement?
Did Matthew Perry’s death expose a public health crisis hiding in the booming telehealth ketamine industry?