Friends star was found unresponsive in his hot tub on October 28, 2023, and toxicology reports found he died from the ‘acute effects of ketamine’

Five people, including two doctors, a live in assistant and an alleged drug dealer known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’, arrested Thursday in connection with the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry

Suspects arrested over claims they are part of a ‘broad underground criminal network’ which supplied the Friends star the ketamine

Those charged include Dr. Salvador Plascencia, 42, Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, alleged drug dealers Eric Fleming, 54, and Jasveen Sangha, 41, aka the ‘Ketamine Queen’

Prosecutors accused the group of preying on the vulnerable star’s addiction issues, with the doctors even referring to him as a ‘moron’ in cruel texts where they discussed how to further exploit him

Three defendants were charged separately and two have pled guilty, with a third agreeing to plead guilty

Five people including two doctors, a live in assistant and an alleged dealer known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’ have been arrested in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry [photo], who was fond unresponsive in his pool on October 28, last year  

Two doctors, a personal assistant and a drug dealer known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’, are among the five people arrested Thursday in connection with the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry in October 2023.
The suspects were apprehended today over claims they are part of a ‘broad underground criminal network’ which supplied the Friends star the ketamine that killed him in October 2023.
Doctors Salvador Plascencia, 42, and Mark Chavez, 54, Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, alleged drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, 41, otherwise known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’, and another drug dealer 54-year-old Eric Fleming, have all been charged. 
Prosecutors say the group preyed on the vulnerable star’s addiction issues, with the doctors even referring to him as a ‘moron’ in cruel texts where they discussed how to further exploit their patient. 

Arrested: Jasveen Sangha, aka the ‘Ketamine Queen’ of north Hollywood, [photo], is the lynch pin for a ‘broad underground criminal network’ which supplied Perry fatal ketamine – prosecutors

Perry was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his LA home on October 28 by his assistant, Iwamasa. The cause of death was later determined to be ‘the acute effects of ketamine’.
The live-in assistant has since admitted being the one who administered the fatal doses to the actor, after being trained how to deliver them by Plascencia.
But prosecutors claim that Sangha’s distribution of the substance on October 4, 2023 led to his death.
As photos published by prosecutors who describe reveal, Sangha’s home as a ‘drugs emporium’ said she had thousands of pills and kilograms of powder there.

In this last post to his Instagram account Mathew Perry shared images of himself in his pool where he would later be found dead

The actor was found face-down and unresponsive in the Jacuzzi adjoining the swimming pool at his home in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said Perry’s descent into ketamine addiction, began with obtaining the controlled substance through doctors, before he eventually resorted to street vendors

Federal law enforcement raided her home in March and recovered the incriminating evidence – along with text messages about selling ‘double strength’ ketamine.
Sangha, who has dual US and British citizenship, is now charged with a several drug offenses related to supplying the ketamine that killed Perry.
An affidavit filed in a Los Angeles federal court by DEA agent Tyler Abrego on March 20 describes a raid the day prior on Sangha’s home.
‘During the search, law enforcement seized significant quantities of illegal drugs, including approximately 1,978 grams of orange pills that field tested positive for methamphetamine, 79 bottles containing a clear liquid that field tested positive for ketamine, and various other suspect narcotics.’ A handgun can also be seen in a photo of the seized drugs included in Abrego’s affidavit.

Arrested: Doctor Salvador Plascencia, [photo], been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine-related count and up to 20 years in federal prison for each records falsification count

Arrested; Dr. Mark Chavez [photo], and Dr. Plascencia, allegedly used Kenneth Iwamasa to distribute approximately ketamine to Perry over a two-month period ‘in exchange for 55,000 dollars’. Having pled guilty to one count of distribution, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison

The criminal complaint said Sangha was a ‘large volume drug dealer’ previously identified by the DEA, LAPD homicide detectives and the US Postal Inspection Service.
Trawling her cell phone, agents unearthed ‘conversations related to selling pressed methamphetamine pills and ketamine.’
In one March text conversation about selling ketamine, she asked for a payment of ‘958,51’ to her PayPal, and said ‘I think you’ll like these but remember they’re double strength’.
Agent Abrego writes in the complaint that videos recovered from Sangha’s phone showed her ‘cooking ketamine’.
In a press conference, US attorney Martin Etrada described Perry’s steady descent into ketamine addiction, which started with him obtaining the controlled substance through doctors, before eventually resorting to street vendors.
An explosive indictment alleges that the defendants made tens of thousands of dollars by selling the narcotic to the troubled star.
According to the filings, in one instance Dr. Salvador Plasencia, an urgent care physician in Calabasas, Calif., worked with San Diego based Dr. Mark Chavez to charge Perry $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost $12, after he became increasingly desperate for the tranquilizer,

Arrested: Perry’s former live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was also charged. He admitted to administering the fatal dose of ketamine which killed the Friends actor. Iwamasa who has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, face up to 15 years in Federal prison

Prosecutors claim Plasencia texted Chavez about purchasing ketamine so he could sell the drug to “victim M.P.,” – confirmed to be Mathew Perry. The two doctors discussed how much to charge Perry for the drug, writing, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out.”
The doctors allegedly used  Iwamasa, 59 to distribute approximately 20 vials of ketamine to the actor over a two-month period from September to October 2023 ‘in exchange for 55,000 dollars’.
The indictment had text messages between the doctors indicating they were conspiring to supply Perry, with Dr. Plascencia insisting he was to be Perry’s ‘go to’ for the narcotic.
Prosecutors say Perry suffered a health scare on 12 October, when he “froze up” and suffered high blood pressure after being injected with a “large dose” of the tranquilizer.
“Let’s not do that again,” Plasencia wrote to Iwamasa after the incident, but in the days leading up to Perry’s death, his assistant was administering “at least six shots” of ketamine to the actor a day.
After his death, the conspirators exchanged other messages in which they tried to cover up their involvement in supplying the actor with ketamine
After it was reported in the news, Sangha texted Fleming, ‘Delete all our messages’, prosecutors said.

Investigators said they discovered a ‘drugs emporium,’ [photo], at the home of Jasveen Sangha, aka the ‘Ketamine Queen’ of north Hollywood, during a raid in March 2024

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. 
The other three defendants were charged separately and two have pled guilty, with a third agreeing to plead guilty.
Eric Fleming admitted to obtaining the ketamine from Sangha and distributing it to Iwamasa, who admitted then giving the drug to the star.

Prosecutors pinpoint that  Sangha’s distribution of ketamine on October 4, 2023 led to Perry’s death

The indictment alleges that Iwamasa injected “at least three shots” of ketamine to his employer on October 28, 2023, “resulting in [his] death and serious bodily injury” – Iwamasa is the one who found Perry ‘unresponsive’

On one occasion, Iwamasa is said to have met with Plascencia in a public Long Beach parking lot where the doctor injected the star with ketamine inside a vehicle.
Two days later, he did the same thing with a large dose of ketamine at Perry’s home that caused him to ‘freeze up’  and his blood pressure to significantly spike, the indictment says.
Plasencia told Iwamasa something to the effect of: ‘Let’s not do that again,’ but he still left additional vials of ketamine with Iwamasa for injecting Perry with, court papers say.
Meanwhile in his plea agreement, Dr. Chavez admitted to diverting supplies from his clinic, to Plascencia by filling out fake prescriptions.
‘These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,’ Estrada said.

Alleged drug dealer Sangha is charged with a slew of drug offenses related to supplying the ketamine that killed Perry She could be facing life in prison if convicted of all offenses

‘Drug dealers selling dangerous substances are gambling with other people’s lives over greed. This case, along with our many other prosecutions of drug-dealers who cause death, send a clear message that we will hold drug-dealers accountable for the deaths they cause.’ 
He added that Sangha was aware of the dangers of ketamine after she allegedly sold it to another victim, Cody McLaury, hours before his overdose death in 2019.
After a family member of McLaury’s sent her a text message saying that her ketamine had killed McLaury, Sangha conducted a Google search for ‘can ketamine be listed as a cause of death’, prosecutors said.
If convicted of all charges, Sangha could face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Plasencia could face up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine-related count and up to 20 years in federal prison for each records falsification count.
Iwamasa and Fleming already pled guilty to charges relating to Perry’s death.
Iwamasa will face up to 15 years and Fleming will face up to 25 years, when they are sentenced in their federal cases.
Dr. Mark Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He has been charged in an information pursuant to a plea agreement and will be arraigned on August 30. At sentencing he will face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Multiple law enforcement agencies have carried out searches, seizing computers, phones and other devices to try and establish which of the suspects was responsible for giving Perry the fatal dose

‘We allege each of the defendants played a key role in his death by falsely prescribing, selling, or injecting the ketamine that caused Matthew Perry’s tragic death,’ said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
‘Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials.’
Perry had been receiving prescribed ketamine therapy to treat his anxiety and depression.
But he had not had one of those treatments for a week-and-a-half prior to his death.
That means the ketamine found in his system after he drowned had not been prescribed. 
The amount in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery. It was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected.