As more details continue to emerge about Matthew Perry’s unexpected Oct. 2023 passing, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues to crack down on those who may have been involved.
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Sources allegedly with the government agency told TMZ that the doctors charged with supplying the Friends star with ketamine before his death are no longer allowed to write prescriptions. Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez both had their script registrations pulled last week.
The insiders shared that as part of a plea deal, Chavez voluntarily gave up his registration. He also agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 30 and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Meanwhile, Plasencia was released on bond last week. He was accused of supplying Matthew Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, with numerous vials of ketamine. The doctor also showed Iwamasa how to administer the drug.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that Plasencia had contacted Chavez to obtain ketamine for Perry. Chavez had previously run a ketamine clinic. In a federal indictment, authorities cited a text conversation between Plasencia and Chavez that reads “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Let’s find out.”
They were referring to Matthew Perry.
Plasencia now faces multiple charges, including seven counts of ketamine distribution. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 120 years in federal prison.
Matthew Perry was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles-area home on Oct. 28, 2023. He was pronounced dead at 4:17 p.m. at the age of 54.
A few months later, the actor’s cause of death was revealed to be “acute effects of ketamine.”
Matthew Perry’s Assistant Reportedly Purchased $55,000 Worth of Ketamine Weeks Before the Actor’s Shocking Death
Weeks leading up to Matthew Perry’s death, the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, reportedly purchased more than $55,000 worth of ketamine vials.
According to Fox News, Iwamasa conspired with Jasveen Sangha, who is known as the “ketamine queen,” as well as drug broker Erik Fleming and Plasencia to illegally obtain ketamine and distribute it to Perry.
In court documents, it was revealed that Iwamasa had admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without formal medical training. This included performing multiple injections on the day that the actor died.
Chavez got involved in the situation due to his experience of running a ketamine clinic. He allegedly submitted a “bogus prescription” under a former patient’s name to get the ketamine. A little over a month before Perry’s death, Chavez lawfully transferred some of the ketamine from his clinic to a medical facility. He also kept possession of “ketamine lozenges” written on a fraudulent prescription and at least “12 vials of ketamine” that he subsequently transferred to Plasencia in Sept. and Oct. 2023.
On Sept. 30, 2023, Plasencia injected Matthew Perry with “approximately two shots of ketamine” at his Los Angeles-area home. That was when he showed Iwamasa “where to make injections” on the actor’s body. He left behind one vial of ketamine “with liquid still remaining in it.” He was paid $4,500 for that transaction.
After that, Iwamasa kept purchasing ketamine vials from Plasencia as well as ketamine lozenges. He also turned to Fleming for additional ketamine purchases. Law enforcement claims that Iwamasa had injected Perry six to eight times a day between Oct. 24 and Oct. 27.
Iwamasa pleaded guilty Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Along with Plasencia and Chavez, Sangha, and Fleming have all been arrested in connection to Perry’s death.