Matthew Perry Ketamine Case: Doctors Called Him “Moron” in Text Messages, Prosecutors Allege

More details about Matthew Perry's death investigation are surfacing.

At an Aug. 15 press conference, prosecutors revealed text messages between his doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez—two of five people charged in connection to the Friends alum's death—allegedly showing that the medical professionals discussed how much the actor would be willing to spend on ketamine, the drug found in his system after he was discovered unresponsive in the hot tub of his California home.

"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia allegedly wrote in one September 2023 message to Chavez, according to the press conference from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), while allegedly adding in another text that he wanted to be Perry's "go to for drugs."

And other defendants in the case allegedly exchanged messages about profiting off Perry's ketamine use as well. The DOJ alleges that Erik Fleming—who pleaded guilty to two ketamine-related charges after admitting to authorities that he distributed the ketamine that killed the 54-year-old—confessed in a text, "I wouldn't do it if there wasn't chance of me making some money for doing this."   

And that's not the only evidence prosecutors have shared regarding the doctors' alleged involvement in his passing, which was ruled a drug and drowning-related accident and the result of the "acute effects of ketamine" by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. 

According to the DOJ, Plasencia, 42, worked with Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa to distribute approximately 20 vials of ketamine to the Fools Rush In star between September and October 2023 in exchange for $55,000 cash from Perry. On one occasion, Plasencia allegedly sent Iwamasa home with additional vials of ketamine after injecting Perry with the drug and watching him "freeze up and his blood pressure spike."

Plasencia was arrested on Aug. 15 and charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation. Meanwhile, Chavez previously agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. 

As for Iwamasa, the 59-year-old pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Additionally, he "admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections on Perry" on the day Perry died, per the DOJ.

Noting that Plasencia is one of the lead defendants in the case, U.S. attorney Martin Estrada reflected on Perry's longtime struggle with drug addiction and how his relapse in the fall of 2023 was extorted for the defendants' benefit. 

"They knew what they were doing was wrong," Estrada said in the press conference. "They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways."

He added, "In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being."

E! News has reached out to attorneys for Iwamasa, Plasencia, Chavez and Fleming for comment but has not heard back.

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