A doctor has admitted selling Matthew Perry ketamine a month before he died from an overdose.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia became the fourth of five defendants in Perry's death to plead guilty.
He stood with his attorney and pleaded guilty to four charges before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in Los Angeles federal court.
Plasencia, 43, had been scheduled to go on trial in August, but the doctor agreed last month to plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine, according to a signed document filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
He answered only the judge's questions. When asked if his lawyers had considered all possible options for a guilty plea and sentencing, Plasencia replied: “They considered everything.”
He had previously pleaded not guilty, but in exchange for his confession, prosecutors agreed to drop three more charges of distributing ketamine and two charges of forgery.
Prosecutors outlined the charges in court ahead of the trial, noting that Plasencia's lawyers argue he did not administer the dose that killed Perry.
They described, and Plascencia admitted, that Perry froze and his blood pressure spiked when the doctor gave him one injection, but Plascencia still left more ketamine for Perry's assistant to inject.
Perry was referred to as nothing less than “the injured MP.”
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and there is no guarantee that Plasencia will receive less than that, but it is likely. He was released on bail shortly after his arrest in August and will remain free until his sentencing on Dec. 3.
Plasencia left the courthouse with his lawyers, refusing to speak to reporters gathered outside.
The only defendant who has not reached a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors is Jaswin Sangha, who prosecutors describe as a drug trafficker known as the “Ketamine Queen” and who allegedly sold Perry the lethal dose. Her trial is scheduled to begin next month. She has pleaded not guilty.
According to prosecutors and co-defendants who reached their own plea deals, Plasencia illegally supplied Perry with significant amounts of ketamine beginning about a month before his death on Oct. 28, 2023.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
