Five people have been federally charged following an investigation into Matthew Perry’s death.
Perry’s former personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, two doctors and two others have been indicted and charged, per a press conference on Thursday, August 15.
According to The New York Times, Jasveen Sangha (a.k.a. “the Ketamine Queen”) and Salvador Plasencia were charged. Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
The charges against them include conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of ketamine resulting in death, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and altering and falsifying records related to a federal investigation, per the outlet.
Iwamasa, Mark Chavez and Erik Fleming were charged separately with counts including conspiracy to distribute ketamine, per a person with knowledge to the situation. All three pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Fleming also pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Hours before, news broke that at least one arrest had been made in connection to the former Friends star’s death.
TMZ, who was the first to report the news, revealed that “at least one doctor” was placed in police custody alongside others who supplied Perry with the ketamine that caused his death last year.
Perry was 54 when he was found unresponsive by authorities in a hot tub at his California home in October 2023. There were no signs of foul play.
Two months after his death, Us confirmed that Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.” The December 2023 toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — which is used to treat addiction — as contributing factors. His death was ruled an accident.
The initial investigation into Perry’s death closed in January. Months later, TMZ reported that law enforcement officials were looking into where he sourced the ketamine. Per the outlet, both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration were investigating.
Ahead of his death, Perry revealed in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, that he underwent ketamine treatments for his addiction struggles “to ease pain and help with depression.”
“Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s. There is a synthetic form of it now,” he wrote, adding that he would “disassociate” to get the treatment. “Has my name written all over it — they might as well have called it ‘Matty.’”
In his book, Perry noted that he decided “ketamine was not for [him]” because of how he felt after treatments. “It was something different, and anything different is good,” he explained. “Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel.”
Perry had been candid through the years about his battle with substance abuse. In his memoir, Perry revealed that he was “completely sober” for only one season of Friends. (Perry starred as Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom from 1994 to 2004.)
“You can track the trajectory of my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season — when I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills,” he wrote, adding that season 9 was when he got sober. “When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
