A doctor charged with giving Friends star Matthew Perry ketamine in the weeks leading up to the actor’s overdose death has pleaded guilty as expected in Los Angeles.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia was supposed to go on trial in August until he agreed last month to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the signed document filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records.
“Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry”, the doctor's attorney, Debra White, said in an statement after the hearing.
“He is fully accepting responsibility by pleading guilty to drug distribution.”
Plasencia, 43 became the fourth of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death to plead guilty.
He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Matthew Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in October 2023, after years of struggling with addiction.
The medical examiner ruled that ketamine, typically used as a surgical anesthetic, was the primary cause of death.
According to a co-defendant, Plasencia called the actor a “moron” who could be exploited for money in a text message.
The physician had been one of the primary targets of the prosecution, along with a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer. Three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation.
Plasencia has been free on bond since shortly after his arrest in August, and will be allowed to remain free until his sentencing on 3 December 2025.
