Texts reveal man who pleaded guilty in Matthew Perry death tried to blame actor's assistant
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Culprits associated with Matthew Perry’s death have finally been arrested after the Department of Justice charged five people on August 15, including the actor’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa.
However, one person who pleaded guilty in the case planned to put the blame solely on Iawamasa - who has also pleaded guilty - just two days after the autopsy report revealed that the ‘Friends’ star died after suffering from “acute effects of ketamine.”
During the press briefing, United States Attorney Martin Estrada announced that five people have been indicted in the case, including Jasveen Sangha, 41, also known as the 'Ketamine Queen;' Dr Salvador Plasencia, 42, Dr Mark Chavez, 54, Eric Fleming, 54, a broker and Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, his live-in assistant.
One of the indicted tried to blame Matthew Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa
Two days after the autopsy report came out, Fleming suggested to Sangha that they could “blame” Iwamasa for Perry’s death. In Sangha or the ‘Ketamine Queen’s pre-trial detention motion, the police wrote about the text exchange between the duo.
Among the five arrested, Iwamasa and Fleming have already pleaded guilty and Chavez has signed an agreement for a guilty plea and is expected to plead guilty. In the text messages, as revealed by DOJ, per People, Fleming initially texted Sangha, writing, “Please call.”
Fleming, who worked as the broker, later allegedly added, "I’m 90 per cent sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Perry]. Only his Assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler.” Per the feds, Fleming has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, per federal authorities.
Matthew Perry’s assistant shot the last ketamine dose
Per Variety, the court documents revealed that the five accused used to call ketamine bottles “Dr Pepper,” “cans”, and “bots.” They distributed over 20 vials of ketamine to Perry over two months in the fall of 2023 and took almost $55,000 in cash.
On September 30, Dr Plasencia texted Dr Chavez about purchasing ketamine so the drug could be sold to “victim MP”.
In an email, he wrote, “I wonder how much this moron will pay[for the ketamine]”, and “Let's find out.”
US Attorney Martin Estrada revealed that just two weeks before Perry’s death, on one occasion, Plasencia injected the ‘17 Again’ actor with illegal ketamine and watched the actor “freeze up and his blood pressure spike.”
Estrada continued, "Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for defendant Iwamasa to administer to Mr Perry.”
The rest of the ketamine was injected by Perry's assistant of almost thirty years, Iawamasa. Even though the assistant did not have any medical training, he went ahead with the shots.
Estrada revealed that Iwamasa injected multiple shots of ketamine to the actor over the last four days of his life including the fatal dose that took his life. The actor allegedly told his assistant to "shoot me a big one [ketamine dose]" just hours before his death.
In October 2023, before Perry's death on October 28, Placensia allegedly told one of his other patients that the ‘Fools Rush In’ actor “was spiraling out of control with his addiction.” “Nonetheless, [he] continued to offer ketamine to Mr Perry," added the attorney.
“These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr Perry than caring for his well-being,” said Estrada during the briefing.
