Matthew Perry's Assistant, Doctors Charged In Actor's Death: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — The personal assistant and doctors of "Friends" star Matthew Perry were among multiple people charged Thursday in connection with the actor's overdose death, according to prosecutors.

The arrests come after the Los Angeles Police Department in May revealed that it, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, had been investigating Perry's death.

According to an 18-count superseding indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, a total of five people are facing charges and are accused of distributing ketamine to Perry during the final weeks of the actor’s life.

Among those charged were Jasveen Sangha, a San Fernando Valley drug dealer who prosecutors said was known as “the Ketamine Queen,” and urgent care physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, also known as "Dr. P."

Sangha and Plasencia are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, according to prosecutors. Sangha also is charged with one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.

Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation, prosecutors said.

Others charged include Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; a second doctor, Mark Chavez; and Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry’s, according to prosecutors. Each was charged separately with counts including conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

SEE ALSO: 5 Things To Know About Matthew Perry's Death Investigation

Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in the pool of his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28 and pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner determined he died from "the acute effects of ketamine."

"Contributing factors in Mr. Perry's death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, used to treat opioid use disorder. The manner of death is accidental," the medical examiner's office said in a statement.

The medical examiner noted in the autopsy report that Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion treatments for depression and anxiety, but his most recent known treatment had occurred over a week before his death — meaning the ketamine found in his system came from another source.

Ketamine is a dissociative drug that is most commonly used for surgical anesthesia. In recent years it has been increasingly prescribed by doctors in lower doses for off-label treatment of mental health conditions. Treatments are available as intravenous infusions, often done in a health care facility, as well as oral and nasal methods of administration that can be done at home.

Ketamine is also popularly used as a recreational drug for the relaxed state it produces. Higher recreational doses can produce a dissociative, hallucinatory state known as a "K hole."

In May, TMZ reported that investigators had interviewed "key people in Hollywood" known to have a history of drug use who may be able to help police track down the ketamine source.

Perry had openly spoken of his years-long struggle with addiction. He became addicted to Vicodin during his time on "Friends" and had done multiple stints in rehab, including during filming of the show.

In 2022, Perry published a memoir detailing his troubles with drugs and alcohol, his issues with weight gain and loss, and other facets of his at-times tumultuous lifestyle, including a harrowing account of an emergency surgery following a gastrointestinal perforation, which nearly took his life.

There was no evidence of illicit drugs in Perry's system when he died, according to the medical examiner's report on the actor's death.

City News Service contributed to this report.