LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Five people have been charged in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Yes. The man best known as Chandler Bing from "Friends" died last year from the acute effects of ketamine. Officials said in a press conference yesterday that a broad underground criminal network supplied him with the drugs that ultimately killed him. This is how U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada described it.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
MARTIN ESTRADA: This network included a live-in assistant, various go-betweens, two medical doctors and a major source of drug supply known as, quote, "the Ketamine Queen."
FADEL: Robert Garrova is a reporter at LAist. He's been following the story and is here to explain who was involved in what happened. Hi, Robert.
ROBERT GARROVA, BYLINE: Hi. Leila.
FADEL: OK, so can you tell us more about the people accused of being involved in Perry's death and who the Ketamine Queen is?
GARROVA: Yeah, that would be Jasveen Sangha of North Hollywood. She was arrested yesterday, and she's really central to this case. The indictment alleges that the ketamine Sangha distributed last fall is what caused Perry's death. Authorities said they found a, quote, "drug-selling emporium" when they searched her home. It was her and a doctor - Dr. Salvador Plasencia - who were both arrested yesterday. Perry met Plasencia while looking to buy ketamine. U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said yesterday at that press conference that Plasencia saw an opportunity to profit off of Perry's addiction. He said he wrote in a text message, in September of last year, quote, "I wonder how much this moron will pay." Yeah. Estrada said Perry paid $55,000 for some - in cash, actually - for some 20 vials of ketamine over two months last year.
FADEL: It's a lot of money. Why were authorities describing this as a criminal network?
GARROVA: Well, that really gets to the number of people involved and how they were all, you know, sort of working together to take advantage. You know, it was clear Matthew Perry had a public history of addiction. He'd written about it in his 2022 memoir. U.S. Attorney Estrada said yesterday that the defendants cared more about making money off of Perry, you know, rather than caring for his well-being.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
ESTRADA: The investigation revealed, in the fall of 2023, Mr. Perry fell back into addiction, and these defendants took advantage to profit for themselves.
GARROVA: You know, and there were three other people who were charged as allegedly being part of this. Those would include Perry's live-in assistant, who injected him with the drug. And after Perry's death, the prosecutor said that they had tried to cover up their involvement.
FADEL: Now, ketamine is a controlled substance. How did Perry start using it?
GARROVA: So a Drug Enforcement Administration official said that Perry was trying to get help for anxiety and depression, and that's when he became addicted to ketamine. Usually, it's cleared for use in anesthesia, and it's also approved for some, you know, cases of depression but only in supervised settings. That same DEA official said that after Perry had become addicted to ketamine at a local clinic, doctors refused to increase his dosage, and that's when he started looking to other doctors who were ready to take advantage for profit. Officials said they really wanted to send a clear message with the charges and arrests announced. People who sell illicit drugs like this are playing roulette with people's lives, they said, and they wanted to hold people accountable.
FADEL: That's Robert Garrova of LAist. Thanks for the reporting, Robert.
GARROVA: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
