On Thursday, officials in Los Angeles announced that five people — including two doctors, Matthew Perry’s live-in assistant and a woman known as the “Ketamine Queen” — have been charged in connection to the Friends’ star’s fatal overdose last year.
Of the five charged, three of them have already pleaded guilty to drug charges.
In October 2023, Perry passed away at the age of 54 after he was found unresponsive in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home.
In December 2023, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.”
After the superseding indictment was unsealed by the Department of Justice and charging documents for some of the arrested players dropped Thursday, a clearer picture was painted of the days leading up to and after Perry’s death. Below is everything we know so far, gleaned from those docs.
Note: As part of their communications, the conspirators surrounding Perry used codewords for ketamine including “Dr. Pepper,” “cans,” and “bottles” or “bots.”
September 30: Per authorities, after learning that Matthew Perry was interested in acquiring ketamine, Dr. Salvador Plasencia reached out to Dr. Mark Chavez about purchasing the drug in order to sell it to Perry. While texting about how much to charge, Plasencia allegedly texted to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” and, “Let’s find out.” Per the docs, Chavez then confirmed he was willing to sell ketamine lozenges he’d obtained through a fraudulent prescription in someone else’s name. The doctors allegedly met up to acquire the lozenges, as well as at least four vials of liquid ketamine, gloves, and syringes.
September 30 (cont.): Perry and his personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa then allegedly met with Plasencia at Perry’s home to acquire ketamine. Plasencia is quoted in the docs as telling Perry, “I will give you first dose if you would like and leave supplies with you.” After Plasencia injected Perry with the drug, he allegedly instructed Iwamasa — who has no medical training — where on Perry’s body to inject the drug and how to do so. He then left behind multiple syringes and at least one vial of ketamine. Iwamasa paid him approximately $4500, per the docs. Plasencia also supposedly texted Chavez to tell him the meeting was “like a bad movie.”
October 2: Iwamasa allegedly texted Plasencia that he wanted to buy more ketamine, using coded language, “Want to end up with bottles of dr pepper, not just 8 sessions.” Plasencia replied that he “understood,” and then is quoted as telling Chavez, “[I]f today goes well we may have repeat business.” Authorities claim Plasencia went to Perry’s house, gave the actor an injection, and sold Iwamasa more of the drug, including ketamine lozenges for approximately $2000. After this, Chavez allegedly went about acquiring more ketamine from two wholesale distributors, falsely filing that they “will not be sold to a third party, distributed or used for any other purpose.”
October 4: Per the docs, Iwamasa texted Plasencia that he had successfully injected Perry with ketamine himself and “will need to get more cans of dr pepper from you today, I can come to you to make it convenient.'” Plasencia allegedly replied he was “currently retrieving 4 bottles” from his source (Chavez). Later that day, Plasencia allegedly arrived at Perry’s home and injected the actor, before selling multiple vials of ketamine to Iwamasa.
October 4 (cont.): It was around this time that authorities say Erik Fleming first contacted Perry to see if he was interested in buying ketamine from him. Meanwhile, Plasencia allegedly reached out to Chavez to see if he was having “any trouble finding more ketamine,” as he didn’t want Perry looking elsewhere for the drug. He told Chavez he wanted to “[b]e his go to.” Chavez proceeded to acquire more from wholesale distributors, while lying on forms about its intended use, say authorities.
October 6: Iwamasa allegedly texted Plasencia that he needed more ketamine, as he only had “1 left.” Plasencia reportedly came to Perry’s home and injected him with ketamine, and then sold one more vial to Iwamasa for an unspecified cash payment.
October 7: Iwamasa again texted Plasencia saying he needed more ketamine, say authorities, asking if he could pay with “something besides cash,” because “[i]ts hard to get to the bank on the fly with all that’s going on which happens so fast now.” That night, Plasencia allegedly agreed to sell two vials, for which Iwamasa sent $3000 by electronic payment.
October 8: Plasencia allegedly sold another two vials to Iwamasa for $6000.
October 10: Plasencia met with Chavez to purchase 10 vials purchased from a wholesale distributor, say authorities. Then Iwamasa allegedly drove Perry to meet Plasencia in a public parking lot in Long Beach, where he gave Plasencia cash as partial payment. While there, the docs say Placensia gave Perry an injection of ketamine in the back of the car and provided Iwamasa with additional vials.
October 10 (cont.): Meanwhile, Fleming allegedly texted Iwamasa that he had “a bunch of the K in liquid” and would sell for a “good price.” He also reportedly noted he needed a “fair tip for bringing it.” Iwamasa is quoted as replying, “How much do you want per bottle and what is the nice tip you want” Fleming, per the docs, said he would need some money upfront, with the balance due on delivery. He allegedly sent Iwamasa a picture of ketamine vial, writing, “10 ml vial – pure – $300 vial. Is 1000 fai[r] for me? – let me know how many vials.” Fleming then allegedly discussed with Jasveen “The Ketamine Queen” Sangha over the Signal app types of ketamine she had and prices.
October 11: Sangha messaged Fleming, who screenshot and shared a message with Iwamasa allegedly reading, “It’s unmarked but it’s amazing – he take one and try it and I have more if he likes.” Fleming supposedly told Iwamasa, “My person … only deal with high end and celebs. If it were not great stuff she’d lose her business.”
October 12: Iwamasa allegedly asked Plasencia to come to Perry’s house for a ketamine injection, even though Perry had just received a ketamine infusion treatment earlier that day at a doctor’s office. He also reportedly promised to pay the remainder of the monies owed for the parking lot transaction, as well as for more. Per the indictment, Plasencia administered a large dose to Perry, triggering an adverse medical reaction, including a significant spike to Perry’s systolic blood pressure, which caused him to freeze up so he couldn’t speak or move. After this, Plasencia is quoted as telling Iwamasa, “Let’s not do that again” … before he then allegedly left multiple vials of ketamine with Iwamasa
October 12 (cont.): Fleming allegedly contacted Sangha for a sample he could give to Iwamasa for Perry. Sangha referred to Perry by his Friends character’s name, Chandler Bing, in communications with Fleming, per the docs. After chatting with Sangha, Fleming allegedly told Iwamasa she “was able to get the kind that is used for intermuscular [injections],” asking Iwamasa to “Zell me 180,” adding, “I guarantee it’s going to be amazing.” He also allegedly noted to Iwamasa, “I wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t a chance of me making some money for doing this.”
October 13: Fleming drove to Sangha’s house, which was allegedly referred to as the “Sangha Stash House,” and picked up a clear, unmarked vial, which he then drove to Perry’s house and delivered to Iwamasa for $180. After administering it to Perry, Iwamasa allegedly texted Fleming, “seems good … What number of bots does she have?” Authorities say Fleming replied, “as many as u want.”
October 13 (cont.): Plasencia allegedly texted Chavez to ask him if he was interested in running a ketamine clinic with him, to which Chavez replied, “as long as we are doing things on the up and up we can start ASAP…. All done legally without any shady stuff. Having them come to the clinic will insure this.” When Plasencia allegedly replied, “Oh so you don’t agree with the method I am currently doing?” Chavez countered, “It’s not what I think it’s what an entity like the California medical board would view it … or the DEA.”
October 14: Iwamasa allegedly met Fleming outside of Perry’s home. Fleming then allegedly picked up $5500 to pay Sangha, before he then went to Sangha’s home and bought the 25 vials from her, discussing possible future sales to Perry, per the docs. He then returned to Perry’s residence to deliver them to Iwamasa.
October 23: Iwamasa allegedly contacted Fleming to say he needed to purchase more, offering the same terms as their previous deal. The two communicated overnight, with Iwamasa allegedly assuring him Sangha’s “master chef” and “scientist” was getting the order ready and over to “our girl.”
October 24: Fleming allegedly delivered the final order to Iwamasa, including ketamine lollipops, which Sangha included for free as an “add on” for the larger order. After receiving them, per the docs, Iwamasa administered at least 6 injections of ketamine to Perry.
October 24 (cont.): After having allegedly told a patient less than a week prior that Perry was too far gone and spiraling in his addiction, authorities say Plasencia placed an order for 10 vials through a wholesale distributor so he could offer it to the actor.
October 25: Iwamasa allegedly administered at least 6 injections of ketamine to Perry. Per the docs, Sangha reached out to Fleming about possible future deals with Perry, stating, “Please let me know if u think There will be another round because the scientist he’ll be gone as well … I’ll have to know ahead of time to get that sorted out before we leave.”
October 26: Iwamasa allegedly administered at least 6 injections of ketamine to Perry, while Fleming is quoted as reaching out to Iwamasa so suggest better packaging options for future orders, “How are you? I realized on next shipment we could probably get it packaged in fewer bigger boxes instead or resale size.”
October 27: Iwamasa allegedly administered at least 6 injections of ketamine to Perry. Plasencia also allegedly reached out to Iwamasa, saying, “Hi. I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine.” He allegedly followed up later, “I can always let her know the plan. I will be back in town Tuesday.”
The Day of Perry’s Death and Aftermath
October 28: Iwamasa allegedly administered at least 3 injections of ketamine to Perry. Perry was found dead later that day face down in a jacuzzi. An autopsy later determined his cause of death as “acute effects of ketamine.”
October 28 (cont.): Sangha allegedly called Fleming on the Signal app to inform him that Perry was dead after learning of it in the news. During that call, they allegedly discussed needing to distance themselves from the deal, and delete their conversations and all digital evidence from their phones. Fleming reportedly said he’d reach out to Iwamasa for more information on Perry’s death, while Sangha allegedly texted Fleming after their call to reiterate deleting their prior text messages. She then allegedly updated the Signal settings on their chat to automatically delete messages.
October 30 (approximately): On the phone, per authorities, Iwamasa told Fleming he had cleaned up the scene, including any ketamine vials and syringes, and said he “deleted everything.” Fleming allegedly contacted Sangha on the Signal app to fill her in: “Please call… Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I’m 90% sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Perry]. Only his assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler. Also they are doing a 3 month tox screening … Does K stay in your system or is it immediately flushed out”
Per the Department of Justice, Fleming pleaded guilty on August 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He also allegedly admitted he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry.
Iwamasa pleaded guilty on August 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and allegedly admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections, on the day he died.
Chavez, meanwhile, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine — and, in a plea agreement, admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia, among other offenses.
Sangha and Plasencia are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha also is charged with one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.
