Although he has numerous film and television appearances to his credit, Matthew Perry will always be remembered for his portrayal of the snarky Chandler Bing on the hit series “Friends.”
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A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before 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 judge emphasized that Plasencia didn’t provide the ketamine that killed Perry, but told 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 said.
Plasencia was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his mother cried loudly in the audience. He might have arranged a date to surrender, but his lawyers said he was prepared to do it today.
Perry’s mother and two half sisters gave tearful victim impact statements before the sentencing.
“The world mourns my brother,” Madeleine Morrison said. “He was everyone’s favorite friend.”
“My brother’s death turned my world upside down,” Morrison said, crying. “It punched a crater in my life. His absence is everywhere.”
Plasencia was the first to be sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death at age 54 in 2023.
The doctor admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted another doctor that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money, according to court filings.
Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison, while the defense sought just a day in prison plus probation.
Perry’s mother talked about the things he overcame in life and the strength he showed.
“I used to think he couldn’t die,” Suzanne Perry said as her husband, “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison, stood at the podium with her.
“You called him a ‘moron,'” she said. “There is nothing moronic about that man. He was even a successful drug addict.”
She spoke eloquently and apologized for rambling before getting tearful at the end, saying, “this was a bad thing you did!” as she cried.
Plasencia also spoke before the sentencing, breaking into tears as he imagined the day he would have to tell his now 2-year-old son “about the time I didn’t protect another mother’s son. It hurts me so much. I can’t believe I’m here.”
He apologized directly to Perry’s family. “I should have protected him,” he said.
Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally as a treatment for depression. But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide it in the amounts he wanted, he turned to Plasencia, who admitted to illegally selling to Perry and knowing he was a struggling addict.
Plasencia’s lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, some of whom provided testimonials about him for the court.
The attorneys called his selling to Perry “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life.”
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. Prosecutors agreed to drop five different counts. The agreement came with no sentencing guarantees, and legally Garnett can give him up to 40 years.
The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months.
Perry died at age 54 in 2023 after struggling with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation 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.
