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Doctor who supplied ketamine to ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry sentenced to 2.5 years in prison
Plasencia, 44, was taken into custody immediately as his mother cried in the courtroom.
A Los Angeles federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Dr Salvador Plasencia to two and a half years in prison for illegally selling ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the actor’s death. He also received two years of probation.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said that although Plasencia didn’t supply the lethal dose, “You and others helped Mr Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.”
She added, “You exploited Mr Perry’s addiction for your own profit", according to a report by The Associated Press.
His lawyers said he was prepared to begin serving the sentence.
Perry’s father and stepmother, John and Debby Perry, submitted a separate letter.
They said Plasencia “didn’t deserve to hear” their feelings but still described Perry as “a warm, loving man who was to be our rock as we aged…Our next patriarch.”
Also Read | Matthew Perry’s parents call out doctor in emotional letters ahead of sentencing
What were the charges against Plasencia?
Plasencia, 44, was taken into custody immediately as his mother cried in the courtroom, according to the AP report.
Perry’s mother and two half sisters delivered emotional statements. “The world mourns my brother,” Madeleine Morrison said. “He was everyone’s favorite friend."
Plasencia is the first of five defendants to be sentenced in the case.
He had admitted taking advantage of Perry’s addiction and had referred to him in texts as a “moron” who could be exploited for money, according to the AP report.
Prosecutors sought three years in prison, while the defense asked for a day in custody and probation. Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distributing ketamine as part of a deal that dropped five other counts.
The remaining defendants will be sentenced in the coming months.
Perry died in 2023 at age 54 after decades of addiction struggles, including during his years on “Friends.”
