In today's headlines with Wilhelmina Shrimpton, supermarkets leave Kiwis out of pocket, five people charged over Matthew Perry death, City Mission food parcels still suspended.
Matthew Perry’s personal assistant and two doctors are among five people charged this week with causing his overdose death, as authorities accused the suspects of ruthlessly exploiting the Friends star’s struggles with drug addiction.
Those charged are physicians Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez; Jasveen Sangha, who is accused of being a drug dealer; Perry’s live-in personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa; and Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of the actor. All five have been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and face maximum sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Attorneys for Sangha, Iwamasa and Fleming did not respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for Chavez and Plasencia could not immediately be reached.
Prosecutors say Sangha became known as the “Ketamine Queen” for allegedly selling drugs from a property known as the “Sangha Stash House” since around 2019.
“The defendants in this case knew what they were doing was wrong,” Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, said at a news conference Thursday held by the Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), US Postal Service and Los Angeles Police Department.
“They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr Perry than caring for his well-being.”
Jasveen Sangha is one of five people charged in connection with the death of Matthew Perry.
According to the Justice Department, Plasencia learned last year that Perry was interested in ketamine as a treatment for depression and anxiety, and Plasencia contacted Chavez, who ran a ketamine clinic. The two co-ordinated over how much they planned to charge the actor for the drug, with Plasencia allegedly texting Chavez: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.” Chavez later admitted in a plea agreement to selling the ketamine to Plasencia, authorities said. Chavez faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Both Chavez and Plasencia were described by DEA administrator Anne Milgram as doctors seeking a “payday”, who allegedly exploited the actor instead of helping him work through his addiction, which had been well documented in the media and by Perry himself in his memoir.
“Instead of ‘do no harm’, they did harm so that they could make more money,” Milgram said.
Matthew Perry died of a ketamine overdose last October. Photo / Getty Images
Plasencia allegedly provided the ketamine to Perry and his personal assistant, Iwamasa, “without a legitimate medical purpose”, and taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry with the drug, according to a Justice Department news release.
The news release said Iwamasa later admitted he injected Perry with the ketamine without medical training. He faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty.
Fleming, who pleaded guilty this month to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death, distributed 50 vials of ketamine, which he obtained from Sangha, to Iwamasa, according to the Justice Department. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Sangha faces the harshest penalty if found guilty – a maximum life sentence. The indictment alleges the ketamine that Sangha distributed on October 24 led to Perry’s death. Sangha has sold and distributed ketamine and other illegal drugs from her stash house – referred to as the “Sangha Stash House” in the indictment – since at least 2019, the Justice Department said in its news release.
According to the Justice Department, authorities found “79 vials of ketamine, [about three pounds] of orange pills containing methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine, and prescription drugs” at Sangha’s residence after Perry’s death.
The Justice Department said Sangha had a history with drug trafficking and had previously sold ketamine to a man named Cody McLaury, who died of an overdose within hours.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in May that it was working with the DEA and the US Postal Service to investigate the source of the ketamine that killed Perry.
In February and March, Plasencia provided falsified and altered medical records to federal investigators that sought to show he had a legitimate treatment plan for Perry, according to the Justice Department.
In December, the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office revealed that the actor had died of the acute effects of ketamine and ruled his death an accident. There were no signs of foul play or fatal trauma, according to the autopsy report. Drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid-use disorder, also contributed to the actor’s death, the medical examiner wrote in a news release.
Perry had undergone ketamine infusion therapy, but his last treatment was more than a week before his death, meaning the “high levels” of ketamine found in his system could not have been from the treatment, the medical examiner’s office said in the report.
Perry struggled with alcohol and drug addiction throughout his career, which he explained in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. He wrote that he spent millions of dollars on dozens of detox treatment stints. Many who watched his career noticed his change in weight, which he said was a result of his battle with addiction.
Perry is well known for his decade-long stint on NBC’s Friends, for which he earned an Emmy nomination for best lead actor in a comedy series. He also was nominated for a pair of Emmys for his role on NBC’s The West Wing, where he played an associate White House counsel in a guest role.
The comedic actor also starred in a handful of television series throughout the 2010s but never recaptured the glory that came from his Friends run. He headlined some comedy films throughout his career, including Fools Rush In (1997) with Salma Hayek, the crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000) with Bruce Willis, and 17 Again (2009) alongside Zac Efron.
