Matthew Perry's death: Doctor pleads guilty to injecting 'Friends' actor with ketamine

He faces up to 40 years in prison. Dr. Salavador Plasencia, the lead physician charged in the death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts related to the distribution of ketamine in a Los Angeles court, according to Reuters .

The doctor intends to surrender his medical license within 45 days and will remain free on bail until his trial on December 3. A second Los Angeles doctor, Mark Chavez, had already admitted to illegally helping to supply ketamine to the actor and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Salvador Plasencia is suspected of playing a central role in this affair, even though he did not supply the ketamine that killed the actor. According to the investigation, he is the one who organized the "exploitation" of the sick actor. "I wonder how much this idiot will pay," he wrote in September 2023, in a text message exhumed by investigators.

According to the plea agreement, published in June, Plasencia obtained his supplies from Dr. Chavez and traveled to Matthew Perry's home to inject him with ketamine or provide it to the star's assistant. In total, he "distributed 20 vials" of ketamine to the actor over a two-week period in the fall of 2023, according to prosecutors.

Authorities previously said the vials of ketamine cost the doctors involved about $12, but were sold back to the actor for "$2,000."

Five suspects are being prosecuted for their involvement in Matthew Perry's death. The other defendant at the center of the case is Jasveen Sangha , a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the "Queen of Ketamine." The 41-year-old British-American sold the bottle of ketamine that killed the actor and faces life imprisonment. She has pleaded not guilty. Matthew Perry's personal assistant and a middleman have pleaded guilty.

The death of Matthew Perry, found unconscious in his hot tub in October 2023, shocked "Friends" fans and sparked a flood of tributes in Hollywood. The actor had previously spoken publicly about his struggles with addiction.

He had been taking ketamine under supervision as part of depression therapy sessions. But this legal anesthetic is sometimes misused for stimulant or euphoric purposes, and he relapsed into addiction in the fall of 2023, according to federal prosecutors. This relapse pushed him into the clutches of "unscrupulous" doctors, according to the authorities.

A true cultural phenomenon, the series "Friends," broadcast between 1994 and 2004, left its mark on a whole generation of viewers , telling the adventures of a group of happy friends in New York. But behind the scenes, Matthew Perry long hid a malaise behind his jovial character of Chandler. He had long struggled with his addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol.

In his 2022 memoir, he revealed that he underwent 65 withdrawal sessions, spending more than $9 million. He also underwent several surgeries related to his drug addiction, including a seven-hour colon operation in 2018, going so far as to say, "I should be dead."

In a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting to having suffered from severe anxiety "every night" while filming "Friends."