In the weeks leading up to Matthew Perry’s overdose and tragic death in the United States, Doctor Salvador Plasencia, the star of the hit television series Friends, admitted to illegally supplying the drug ketamine.
Plasencia entered his plea in court on Wednesday as part of a settlement with prosecutors and appeared before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett’s federal court in Los Angeles.
Prior to entering a not-guilty plea, Plasencia had. However, as his trial date approached in August, he and his defense attorneys came to terms with a compromise that would lower his legal risk.
In exchange for giving evidence on four counts of illegally distributing ketamine, the prosecution dropped three additional counts of ketamine distribution and two counts of falsifying records.
Judge Garnett questioned Plasencia about how his attorneys had exhausted all of their options for pleas and sentences: “They’ve taken everything into account.
One of Plasencia’s attorneys, Debra White, stated in a statement that she regretted the doctor’s decision to stop practicing medicine professionally.
According to White, “Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment choices he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry.”
“He has admitted guilt in relation to drug distribution.” Dr. Plasencia, who was a patient who was particularly vulnerable as a result of addiction, will voluntarily surrender his medical license. He acknowledges his inaction in failing to protect Mr. Perry.
Perry, who is best known for playing Chandler Bing on the television series Friends, passed away on October 28, 2023, in a hot tub at his Los Angeles, California, home. He was 54 years old.
Perry’s death was attributed to the “acute effects” of ketamine, according to an autopsy report released in December of that year, while adding other factors. For instance, Perry’s coronary artery disease and his long-term struggles with drug use were likely factors in his death.
Perry’s depression treatment was permitted to be ketamine-free. However, Perry reportedly began looking for alternative sources of the drug when the amount he could be prescribed was constrained.
According to the prosecution, Plasencia did not provide Perry with the fatal dose of ketamine.
He did acknowledge that he had given Perry ketamine in the month leading up to his death, including 20 vials that contained a total of 100 milligrams of the substance, in court on Wednesday.
Perry’s blood pressure rose as well, and the doctor admitted to giving one injection. He added that he left some for Perry’s assistant to inject.
Mark Chavez, a fellow doctor, claimed Plasencia had arranged for him to buy ketamine for Perry in court filings from a different case.
Plasencia allegedly wrote to Chavez in a text message that read, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.” The ketamine sale, according to the prosecution, generated $4,500 in revenue.
The fourth defendant to enter a guilty plea comes from Plasencia.
Source: Aljazeera
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