Federal Prosecutors Say the Former Physician Repeatedly Sold Ketamine to Perry and His Assistant Despite Safety Risks, Charging Tens of Thousands of Dollars for the Drugs
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday secured a 30-month prison sentence for a former Santa Monica physician who repeatedly supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, even as he acknowledged the risks of giving the drug to a patient with a long history of addiction.
Salvador Plasencia, 44, known to some patients as “Dr. P,” received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also imposed a $5,600 fine and ordered him taken into custody immediately. Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distributing ketamine and later surrendered his California medical license.
According to court documents, Plasencia operated Malibu Canyon Urgent Care, an urgent-care clinic in Calabasas. Prosecutors said he was well aware that ketamine is a controlled substance and that its off-label use to treat mental health conditions carries significant medical risks, including sedation, psychological reactions, and potential abuse. His own treatment notes emphasized that patients should be monitored by a physician during administration.
Plasencia first met Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, after being introduced by a patient who described the actor as a “high-profile person” seeking ketamine and willing to pay thousands of dollars in cash, prosecutors wrote. Hours later, Plasencia contacted San Diego physician Mark Chavez, 55, and drove to Costa Mesa, where he purchased nearly $800 worth of ketamine vials and tablets, as well as syringes and gloves.
“Rather than do what was best for Mr. Perry – someone who had struggled with addiction for most of his life – [Plasencia] sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Indeed, the day [Plasencia] met Perry he made his profit motive known, telling a co-conspirator: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay’ and ‘let’s find out.’”
That same day, Plasencia went to Perry’s Los Angeles home, administered a ketamine injection, and left at least one vial with Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 60, who paid him $4,500. Investigators said Plasencia continued supplying ketamine in the days that followed, administering doses to Perry both at his home and once in a Long Beach parking lot while Perry sat in the back seat of a car.
During one session, Perry’s blood pressure spiked and he became unresponsive, prosecutors said. Despite the medical complication, Plasencia left more ketamine with Iwamasa, knowing the assistant—who had no medical training—would be injecting the drug.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, 2023, Plasencia distributed roughly 20 vials and several tablets of ketamine to Perry and Iwamasa, charging about $57,000 for the transactions. Prosecutors noted that ketamine typically sells for about $15 per vial.
Later in October, Plasencia used his DEA registration to order an additional 10 vials from a licensed pharmaceutical supplier. On Oct. 27, he texted Iwamasa to say he had “stocked up” and left supplies with a nurse in case they wanted to resume treatments while he was out of town.
Perry fatally overdosed on ketamine one day later. Federal authorities emphasized that the drug responsible for his death did not come from Plasencia.
After the overdose, Plasencia submitted falsified treatment notes and an altered invoice to federal agents responding to a subpoena, prosecutors said. The records were designed to conceal his cash-based sales to Iwamasa. One fabricated note claimed Perry missed an appointment on Oct. 7, even though Plasencia had scheduled a midnight meeting that evening—at a Santa Monica street corner—with Iwamasa to sell additional vials of ketamine.
Several others charged in connection with the broader case have also admitted guilt. Chavez and Iwamasa are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, 2025, and Jan. 14, 2026. Two additional defendants, Erik Fleming, 56, of Hawthorne, and Jasveen “Ketamine Queen” Sangha, 42, of North Hollywood, await sentencing in early 2026.
The investigation was conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian V. Yanniello and Haoxiaohan H. Cai prosecuted the case.
