Off The Record

People Who Are Being Charged In Connection To Matthew Perry’s Death Sent Scary Texts Before And After He Died

Published on August 16, 2024

This week, five people were taken into custody as a result of a narcotics inquiry into the passing of Friends actor Matthew Perry.

The US Department of Justice revealed a “wide underground criminal network” that “took advantage” of the actor by selling him ketamine on Thursday, August 15.

The five suspects have been revealed to be:

Jasveen Sangha, coined ‘The Ketamine Queen,’ has been accused of selling Perry the dose of ketamine that killed him.
Salvador Plasencia, a licensed medical doctor, allegedly distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Perry.
Mark Chavez, another licensed medical doctor, helped obtain the ketamine.
Erik Fleming, a ‘broker’ and acquaintance of Perry’s who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s live-in assistant who worked with Sangha and Chavez to obtain the ketamine and who administered it to him despite not having medical training.

The United States Attorney’s Office claims that Plasencia approached Chavez, who had previously run a ketamine clinic, about ways to get ketamine to sell to the actor after learning of Perry’s interest in the drug.

According to what they disclosed, Plasencia discussed with Perry the appropriate price to charge for the medicine in text conversations sent between the two last year, adding, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

Then he said, “Let’s find out.”

The indictment also disclosed that Perry’s aide was awaiting the delivery of a cache of ketamine from Sangha in October 2023, the month of Perry’s death.

Fleming supposedly told Iwamasa on October 24, 2023, that the ketamine was “on its way to our girl,” which was a reference to Sangha. Perry passed away after four days.

Moreover, when the news of Perry’s death broke on October 28, 2023, Sangha reportedly texted Flemming: “Delete all our messages.”

The five suspects attempted to hide their use of code, referring to ketamine as “bots,” “cans,” and “Dr. Pepper,” according to the authorities.

Sangha has been selling ketamine and other illegal substances out of her stash house in North Hollywood since “at least 2019,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.

They revealed that Sangha supplied a batch of ketamine to Cody McLaury in August 2019, just hours before he overdosed and died. Sangha was aware of the risks associated with the drug.

When a family member of McLaury’s reached out to Sangha saying that her ketamine killed him, she reportedly conducted a Google search for “Can ketamine be listed as a cause of death [?],” per the US Attorney’s Office.

On October 28, 2023, Perry was discovered dead in his Los Angeles residence. Although there were ketamine traces in his system, the cause was initially determined to be an unintentional overdose.

In May 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department declared that it would be looking into the source of the ketamine that was discovered in his system.