Actor Matthew Perry’s live-in assistant injected him with the ketamine that killed him, Federal prosecutors revealed Thursday.
Last October, it was reported the Friends star had been found dead in the heated end of his pool by his assistant – the same assistant who gave him the ketamine that ended his life.
The revelation comes after police arrested five people in connection to his death, including one woman nicknamed the “ketamine queen of Los Angeles,” and a doctor.
The people arrested have all been accused of “feeding off the Friends star’s addiction to make themselves rich,” per The Daily Beast.
Following the arrests, details have been emerging about the so-called “ketamine queen of Los Angeles” – a woman named Jasveen Sangha who allegedly has held an “extensive network for distributing the drug, but little is known about the woman police say is known as ‘the ketamine queen.'” Per the Daily Beast:
Sangha, according to the Department of Justice, which held a press conference about the investigation on Thursday, “took advantage of Mr. Perry by selling large amounts of ketamine to Mr. Perry over a two-week period in October of 2023,” and “sold approximately 50 vials of ketamine for approximately $11,000.” Working together with urgent care doctor Salvador Plasencia, a “broker” named Erik Fleming, and Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa (who would inject Perry with the drug himself), Sangha “took advantage” of Perry’s relapse, according to authorities. A second doctor, Mark Chavez, was also charged.
A search of Sangha’s home uncovered a “drug -selling emporium,” they also said, which housed “80 vials of ketamine, thousands of pills containing methamphetamine, cocaine, bottles of Xanax and other illegally obtained prescription drugs.” According to The Daily Mail, Sangha was living well off that emporium.
In a statement on Thursday, Martín Estrada, the United States attorney for the Central District of California, said Perry’s death “revealed a broad, underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others.” Estrada said Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked in concert with Dr. Salvador Plasencia to give Perry his ketamine. Over the course of two months, Estrada said the two “distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Mr. Perry, in exchange for $55,000 in cash.”
“Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr. Perry,” Estrada said.
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In one particular text exchange, Plasencia even said, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
“These defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” said Estrada. “If you are in the business of selling dangerous drugs, we will hold you accountable for the deaths that you cause.”
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