An arrest has been made in the criminal investigation into the death of actor Matthew Perry, NBC News Los Angeles reports.
UPDATE (8/15, 1:11 p.m. ET): The New York Times now puts the arrest count at five people: Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of the actor; Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known as "the Ketamine Queen"; Calabasas urgent care physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia; and Mark Chavez, another doctor.
Detailed grand jury charges against Sangha and Plasencia were filed in court yesterday (August 14), with Dr. Plasencia having allegedly texted Dr. Chavez on September 30 about purchasing some ketamine he could sell to "the victim M.P.," confirmed to be Perry, whose history of drug abuse the doctor was aware of. Prosecutors said Plasencia discussed how much to charge the actor with Chavez in a subsequent text message, writing, "I wonder how much this moron will pay" and "Lets [sic] find out."
Perry acquired thousands of dollars worth of ketamine — which they referred to as "Dr. Pepper," "cans" and "bots" in their correspondences, according to the indictment — through the doctors, the dealer, the assistant and the acquaintance. Plasencia, Sangha, Iwamasa, Fleming and Chavez are all being charged separately with conspiracy to distribute ketamine, as well as charges related to the death of another person referred to as C.M., according to a federal source.
"These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong, they knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways," the Justice Department said during the press conference [via TheWrap]. "In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring about his wellbeing."
A law enforcement operation was conducted this morning, with agents looking to make arrests for several warrants across Southern California. While one collar was made, the individual's identity remains unknown. Authorities have reportedly scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles for later this morning to share further details.
The investigation was launched in May after Perry, 54, was found dead in his hot tub on October 28, 2023. An autopsy report later revealed that he died "from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine," in addition to the secondary factor of drowning in his hot tub. Coronary artery disease and buprenorphine, a synthetic drug used to treat pain and opioid use disorders (OUDs), were named as additional contributing factors.
The actor's death was ruled an accident. Perry had reportedly been sober for 19 months prior to his death, and was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat anxiety and depression. However, his last known treatment was over a week before he died, and ketamine's half-life is only three to four hours — so the high levels in his system couldn't have been from the therapy.
Further, TMZ is suggesting that multiple arrests have now been made in the case, including dealers who allegedly helped Perry access the ketamine and at least one doctor.