OAN Staff Blake Wolf and Brooke Mallory
4:34 PM – Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Salvador Pasencia, one of the two doctors charged with distributing ketamine to “Friends” actor Matthew Perry weeks before his fatal overdose, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.
In a federal court on Wednesday, Plasencia was sentenced to 30 months after pleading guilty to four counts of illegally distributing ketamine to Perry.
In Perry’s case, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s autopsy ruled his October 28, 2023, death an accident primarily from the acute effects of ketamine, with contributing factors including drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine — an opioid for addiction treatment. Toxicology showed ketamine levels in his blood equivalent to those used in general anesthesia, 3.54 micrograms per milliliter, causing him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub.
As part of his plea agreement, Palescencia admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine several times in the weeks leading up to his death, while also revealing that he sold the drug to the actor “without a legitimate medical purpose.”
Plasencia has also since surrendered his California medical license, and he was forced to pay a $5,600 fine.
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“I failed Matthew Perry,” Plasencia stated in court. “I should have protected him. … I’m just so sorry.”
Plasencia admits that he “turned a blind eye” to Perry’s “clear signs of addiction and relapse,” which resulted in Palencia treating the actor “without adequate knowledge of ketamine therapy [but] without a full understanding of his patient’s addiction. It was reckless. And it was the biggest mistake of his life.”
During the sentencing hearing, Plasencia asked the court for no prison time, emphasizing that he had voluntarily surrendered his medical license — effectively ending his career — and that the intense public backlash had already forced his wife and children to flee to Arizona without him.
Prosecutors, however, pushed back strongly, arguing that Plasencia had knowingly exploited Perry’s addiction for profit. They highlighted a text message he sent to a co-conspirator on the very day he first met Perry: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
Plasencia previously owned and operated Malibu Canyon Urgent Care, LLC, and he was introduced to Perry in September 2023 by one of his patients, being told about a “high profile person who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay cash and lots of thousands for ketamine treatment.”
In a court statement, Perry’s mother and father, Suzanne and Keith Morrison, characterized Plasencia as “among the most culpable of all” in their son’s demise.
“This doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars?”
Along with Plasencia, a woman named Jasveen Sangha, described as the “Ketamine Queen,” also pleaded guilty to charges in September. Sangha is charged with supplying the drugs that caused Perry’s fatal overdose.
Sangha’s North Hollywood apartment, raided by authorities in March 2024, was described as a “drug-selling emporium” and “Sangha stash house,” where she stored, packaged, and manufactured illegal drugs for at least five years. Investigators found over 80 vials of ketamine, thousands of methamphetamine pills, cocaine, Xanax, and evidence of her “cooking” liquid ketamine into powder on a stovetop — videos of which were saved on her devices. She sourced her supply from a contact she called the “master chef” or “scientist,” and used encrypted apps like Signal to coordinate sales.
The two are described as the “lead defendants” in the case, also identifying Kenneth Iwamasa, Dr. Mark Chevez, and Erik Fleming as defendants as well.
Plasencia and Chavez made around $55,000 selling Perry approximately 20 vials of liquid ketamine within the last few weeks of his life, according to prosecutors.
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