A physician who confessed to unlawfully distributing ketamine to Matthew Perry shortly before the Friends actor’s tragic overdose has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a U.S. prison.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett delivered the sentence to 44-year-old Dr. Salvador Plasencia in a Los Angeles federal court, also imposing an additional two years of probation.
Plasencia becomes the first among five individuals who have admitted guilt in the case linked to Perry’s untimely death at the age of 54 in 2023.
The doctor acknowledged selling substantial quantities of ketamine to Perry illegally, although he did not provide the fatal dose that led to the actor’s demise, according to authorities.
In court documents, Plasencia conceded that he exploited Perry, fully aware of the actor’s battle with addiction. He referred to Perry as a “moron” in a text to another doctor, suggesting he could be used for financial gain.
While Perry had been using ketamine under medical supervision to address depression, he approached Plasencia for larger quantities when his regular physician refused to meet his requests.
“Rather than do what was best for Mr Perry â someone who had struggled with addiction for most of his life â defendant sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit,” the prosecution’s sentencing memo said.
Plasencia’s lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him in their memo, as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, some of whom provided testimonials about him for the court.
The attorneys called his selling to Perry “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life.”
“Remorse cannot begin to capture the pain, regret and shame that Mr Plasencia feels for the tragedy that unfolded and that he failed to prevent,” the memo said.
But, the lawyers wrote, “a sentence of imprisonment is neither necessary nor warranted. He has already lost his medical licence, his clinic, and his career. He has also been viciously attacked in the media and threatened by strangers to the point where his family has moved out of state for their safety.”
Plasencia’s lawyers said he has moved to Arizona with his wife and two-year-old son, for whom he is a loving caretaker.
“I want him to be proud of his father,” Plasencia said in a video he and his lawyers made for the judge.
“I made mistakes, but I want him to know that I tried to make better choices after my mistakes.”
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. Prosecutors agreed to drop five different counts.
Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry and his stepfather, Dateline journalist Keith Morrison, attended the hearing.
The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months.
Perry died at age 54 after struggling with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.
