Deadline provided a huge update to Matthew Perry’s (Friends, Fools Rush In) case. One of the doctors who provided him with drugs that led to his OD death was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The doctor who pleaded guilty earlier this summer, Salvador Plasencia, was immediately taken into custody after U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down his sentence on Wednesday: 2.5 years behind bars and a $5,600 fine. The late actor’s mother and half-sister were in attendance for the ruling, according to Deadline.
Texts revealed that Plasencia called Perry a “moron” during a conversation with Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego, while discussing his providing and selling ketamine to the actor, and apologized in court today. “I failed him, I should have protected him,” he said via Deadline.
On October 28, 2023, Perry was found dead in his backyard hot tub.
The 30-month sentence handed down today did not fully satisfy either side during the downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) hearing. Prosecutors had argued for a three-year (36-month) prison term, while the defense team requested probation instead of jail time. In related news, another defendant in Perry’s death, Chavez, is scheduled for sentencing on December 17 after entering a guilty plea, according to Deadline.
On June 23, the legal consequences of Matthew Perry’s overdose death continued on Wednesday as Dr. Salvador Plasencia, one of the physicians who supplied the Friends star with ketamine, formally entered a long-anticipated guilty plea to four counts of distribution via Deadline.
Deadline reported that following a deal made with federal authorities last month, the Santa Monica doctor appeared before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in downtown Los Angeles this morning to confirm his plea. Plasencia said little beyond answering the judge’s questions directly. He now faces a lengthy prison sentence when he is formally sentenced later this year.
Previously, mxdwn revealed another defendant who pleaded guilty in Perry’s trial. Jasveen Sangha was set to trial around October and admitted to being a drug dealer and allegedly delivering a fatal dose of Ketamine to Perry. Originally resisting, she changed her plea and joined four other defendants in entering a guilty plea.