By Alli Rosenbloom | CNN
A trial date has been set for 2 of 5 people charged in reference to the death of popular “Friends” actor Matthew Perry.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia and the alleged drug trafficker Jasveen Sangha, whom the prosecution also calls the “ketamine queen,” will probably be tried together.
The trial is scheduled to start on March 4, 2025. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for February 19.
Plasencia and Sangha were arrested and charged on August 15. They were accused of falsifying medical records and conspiracy to distribute said the US Attorney General.
Both Sangha and Plasencia, who prosecutors say contributed to Perry's death by administering ketamine to the actor in his final weeks of life, pleaded not guilty.
The three other people charged in Perry's death – Dr. Mark Chavez, Perry's personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and an acquaintance of Perry's, Erik Fleming – are cooperating with prosecutors and have pleaded guilty. Sentencing for Fleming and Iwamasa is scheduled for October and November, respectively.
According to the Justice Department, Sangha stays in federal custody and Plasencia is free on bail.
Perry died in October 2023 at age 54 from the “acute effects” of ketamine and subsequent drowning, based on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy report. His body was found floating facedown in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Plasencia was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering or falsifying documents or records in reference to the federal investigation.
In the weeks before his death, Plasencia is claimed to have sold vials of ketamine that he had received from Chavez to Perry and Iwamasa “outside of normal professional practice and without any legitimate medical purpose.”
He can also be accused of showing Iwamasa learn how to inject Perry with the drug and of injecting him himself on one occasion, despite being aware that the actor's ketamine addiction was “getting out of control.”
If convicted, Plasencia faces as much as ten years for every ketamine-related charge and as much as twenty years for every drug counterfeiting charge.
In addition to its legitimate medical use, ketamine is becoming increasingly popular as a celebration drug.
“In Hollywood, there are after-parties and people like to feel transformed … it's become popular in those circles,” says Dr. David Mahjoubi, who runs certainly one of the lots of of ketamine clinics which have mushroomed lately.
Clinics like Mahjoubi's use types of the drug in controlled doses and controlled environments as a therapy for mental illnesses corresponding to depression, anxiety and PTSD. Doctors are given the choice to make use of drugs for so-called “off-label” uses “as long as it is within acceptable guidelines” and “does not cause harm,” Mahjoubi said.
“If someone wants to get high on ketamine, they will buy it on the street,” Mahjoubi added. “It's much cheaper than going to the doctor and getting an infusion.”
When the ketamine clinic that treated Perry refused to extend his dosage, prosecutors said he went first to Plasencia after which, for cost reasons, to Sangha.
Sangha, whom authorities call the “ketamine queen” of North Hollywood, ran a drug-trafficking operation out of her home and sold vials of ketamine to Fleming in Perry's name, based on Fleming's plea agreement.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, federal agents and LAPD investigators executing search warrants at Sangha's apartment found greater than 70 vials of ketamine, in addition to other “fraudulently obtained” and illegal drugs.
She is charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine, operating a drug-addicted premises, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of ketamine with intent to distribute, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.
Sangha faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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