Five charged with supplying “Friends” actor with drug that caused his overdose death

Plasencia was accused of distributing ketamine to Perry and to his personal assistant, 59-year-old Kenneth Iwamasa, without a legitimate medical purpose on at least seven occasions.

Iwamasa, who lived with Perry, admitted to repeatedly injecting the actor with ketamine including multiple times on the day he died, according to court documents.

He has pleaded guilty to one criminal count.

Plasencia taught Iwamasa how to administer ketamine, authorities said, adding that the doctor also personally injected Perry with the drug without proper safety equipment, including once inside a parked car.

Attorney Stefan Sacks, speaking to reporters outside the Los Angeles courthouse, said Plasencia had prescribed ketamine to Perry appropriately and had properly supervised the treatment.

“While the U.S. attorney may disagree with Dr. Plasencia’s medical judgment, there was nothing criminal,” Sacks said, adding that the drug that killed Perry was not supplied by his client.

Authorities said Plasencia obtained ketamine from Dr. Mark Chavez, 54. In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the drug, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

An investigation found that the defendants distributed roughly 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000 in cash between September and October 2023.

Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia and has agreed to plead guilty to one charge, according to court documents.

The fifth person charged was Eric Fleming, 54, who admitted to obtaining ketamine from Sangha and to distributing 50 vials to Iwamasa. He has pleaded guilty to two criminal counts.

Perry died at age 54 from “acute effects” of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub, a December 2023 autopsy report said.

Toxicology tests found Perry’s body contained ketamine at dangerously high levels typically found in general anesthesia patients being monitored by professionals during surgery, the report said.