Doctor who gave Friends star Matthew Perry ketamine sentenced to 30 months in prison
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom, died of an overdose in 2023.
A Californian doctor who supplied Friends star Matthew Perry with ketamine before his overdose death has been jailed for 30 months.
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Dr Salvador Plasencia was one of five people charged after a federal investigation into how Perry acquired the dissociative anaestehtic drug through an underground Hollywood network.
Perry, 54, was found dead in his hot tub in Los Angeles in 2023 after public struggles with depression and addiction.
The actor's family asked the judge to give Plasencia a lengthy sentence calling him "most culpable" for Perry's death.
Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine in the summer.
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The charges carried a maximum of 40 years in prison - but prosecutors instead asked for a 36-month jail term.
Four others charged in the case include another doctor, his assistant and the two people who supplied the dose that killed Perry.
In a statement after the sentence, the doctor's legal team said: "Mr. Plasencia accepts the Court's sentence today with humility and deep remorse.
"He was a good doctor loved by those he treated. He is not a villain." the statement added.
"He is someone who made serious mistakes in his treatment decisions involving the off-label use of ketamine."
Perry's father, John, and step-mother, Debbie, slammed Plasencia in their response to the verdict.
They wrote: "Matthew's recovery counted on you saying NO
"Your motives? I can't imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?"
In a letter to the judge last month, Plasencia apologised and said he had fully taken responsibility for his actions and role in Perry's death.
"I did not set out to harm anyone, but my decisions during those days betrayed my duty as a physician," Plasencia wrote. "I crossed lines that no doctor should ever cross. No one forced me to do this; it was my own poor judgment and it was wrong."
He explained that his medical clinic had been struggling and despite seeing Perry's "signs of addiction", the offer of "large sums of money was appealing".
Plasencia also said that he voluntarily surrendered his medical license when he was arrested and gave up his clinic and the profession that once defined him. He said that he would "accept whatever sentence this Court deems appropriate".