Salvador Plasencia, the doctor who provided Matthew Perry with the ketamine that led to his overdose death, is appealing his sentence on the grounds that he was “nothing more than a drug dealer” to the “Friends” star.
Plasencia was sentenced to 30 months in prison back on Dec. 3, 2025, for supplying Perry with the ketamine that led to his death. He was officially charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and other related offenses.
In a defense brief obtained by TheWrap, the doctor is now asking to be resentenced, arguing that he was not acting as Perry’s doctor when he gave the “Friends” alum the ketamine and that he received too steep a sentence.
“He was nothing more than a drug dealer,” the document reads. “There was therefore no abuse of a position of trust or use of a special skill.”
Perry was found dead in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023. His cause of death was ruled a ketamine overdose with drowning as a factor. Plasencia was the first to be given prison time for his role in the late comedy star’s death.
“I failed Mr. Perry,” Plasencia said when he was charged. “I failed his family. I should have protected him.”
The prosecutors originally pursued three years in prison for the doctor – though the maximum sentence for the physician’s four counts of ketamine distribution was 40 years in prison. The defense asked Plasencia be sentenced just to probation.
Text messages reportedly revealed that Plasencia wondered “how much this moron will pay” when providing Perry with ketamine. The judge said that showed a clear mission to “exploit Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit.”
The four others tried and charged in relation to Perry’s death were: Jasveen Sangha, AKA The Ketamine Queen, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, Erik Fleming and Dr. Mark Chavez. Sangha earned a 15-year sentence for her connection to the death while Iwamasa was sentenced to more than 3 years in prison.
The post Matthew Perry Ketamine Doctor Argues He Was ‘Nothing More Than a Drug Dealer’ to ‘Friends’ Star in Sentence Appeal appeared first on TheWrap.
