A health care provider who pleaded responsible to promoting ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks earlier than the “Friends” star’s overdose death was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence plus two years of probation to 44-year-old Dr. Salvador Plasencia in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
The decide emphasised that Plasencia didn’t present the ketamine that killed Perry, however advised him, “You and others helped Mr. Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.”
“You exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit,” she stated.
Plasencia was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his mom cried loudly in the viewers. He might need organized a date to give up, however his legal professionals stated he was ready to do it in the present day.
Perry’s mom and two half sisters gave tearful sufferer affect statements earlier than the sentencing.
“The world mourns my brother,” Madeleine Morrison stated. “He was everyone’s favorite friend.”
Plasencia was the primary to be sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded responsible in reference to Perry’s demise at age 54 in 2023.
The physician admitted to benefiting from Perry, understanding he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted one other physician that Perry was a “moron” who might be exploited for cash, in accordance to courtroom filings.
Prosecutors had requested for 3 years in prison, whereas the protection sought only a day in prison plus probation.
Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally as a remedy for melancholy. But when his common physician wouldn’t present it in the quantities he needed, he turned to Plasencia, who admitted to illegally promoting to Perry and understanding he was a struggling addict.
Plasencia’s legal professionals tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him as a person who rose out of poverty to turn out to be a physician beloved by his sufferers, a few of whom supplied testimonials about him for the courtroom.
The attorneys known as his promoting to Perry “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life.”
Plasencia pleaded responsible in July to 4 counts of distribution of ketamine.
Prosecutors agreed to drop 5 totally different counts. The settlement got here with no sentencing ensures, and legally Garnett may give him up to 40 years.
The different 4 defendants who reached offers to plead responsible can be sentenced at their very own hearings in the approaching months.
Perry died at age 54 in 2023 after scuffling with dependancy for years, courting again to his time on “Friends,” when he grew to become one of many largest stars of his era as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.