By Jorge Casuso
December 4, 2025 -- A former Santa Monica doctor was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in federal prison for repeatedly selling vials of ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, who died of an overdose in October 2023.
Salvador Plasencia, 44, a.k.a. “Dr. P,” was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also fined him $5,600 and ordered him immediately remanded to federal custody.
Plasencia, who surrendered his California medical license in September, knew Perry’s "well-documented history of drug addiction," according to the U.S. Attorney 's Office for the Central District of California.
He also knew "that Perry’s personal assistant was administering the drug without medical training or supervision."
Plasencia was the first defendant sentenced in the October 28, 2023 death of Perry, 54, who died in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home from accidental drowning caused by an overdose of ketamine, a general anesthetic.
At Wednesday's hearing, Judge Garnett noted that Plasencia didn’t provide the ketamine that killed Perry, but told him, “You and others helped Mr. Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction,” according to CNN Wire.
“You exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit,” she said.
Plasencia "expressed remorse and said he took full responsibility for his actions," according to Reuters.
"I failed Mr. Perry, I failed his family, and I failed the community," he said, before turning to directly face members of Perry's family. "I'm just so sorry."
Plasencia -- who pleaded guilty in June to four counts of distribution of Ketamine -- learned the month before Perry's death that the successful actor, who had a well-documented history of drug addiction, was interested in obtaining ketamine, according to the indictment.
Plasencia -- who owned and operated a Calabasas-based urgent-care clinic called Malibu Canyon Urgent Care LLC. -- contacted Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego, who previously operated a ketamine clinic, to obtain the drug to sell to Perry.
In text messages, Plasencia discussed with Chavez how much to charge Perry, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” according to the indictment.
From September 30 to October 12, 2023, Plasencia distributed 20 vials and multiple tablets of ketamine and syringes to Perry and his personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors argued in their sentencing memorandum, that Plasencia charged a total of $57,000 for these efforts, "even though the going price of ketamine was only approximately $15 per vial."
"Plasencia later placed an order for 10 vials of ketamine through a licensed pharmaceutical company using his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"At all relevant times, Plasencia knew about potential risks associated with ketamine, including sedation, psychiatric events, abuse and misuse by patients, among others," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Chavez and Iwamasa pleaded guilty last year to federal drug charges in connection with Perry’s death and are scheduled to be sentenced on December 17 and January 14 respectively.
Two other defendants charged -- Erik Fleming, 56, of Hawthorne, and Jasveen Sangha, 42, a.k.a. “Ketamine Queen,” of North Hollywood -- also pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and await sentencing on January 7 and February 25, respectively.