Doctor Who Sold Matthew Perry Ketamine Says He Was Operating as a Drug Dealer, Not a Doctor, in Appeal

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine before the actor died in October 2023, is asking for his case to be resentenced.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ on Tuesday, June 9, Plasencia said that the late Friends actor wasn’t looking for medical treatment — just a reliable source of ketamine. Therefore, Plasencia’s attorneys say he should be treated as a drug dealer in the case and not as a doctor who betrayed a patient.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California previously announced that Plasencia is serving a 30-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in July 2025 to four counts of distribution of ketamine — and that he surrendered his California medical license.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Plasencia repeatedly sold vials of ketamine to Perry despite knowing Perry’s well-documented history of drug addiction and that Perry’s personal assistant was administering the drug without medical training or supervision.”

Mark Chavez, another doctor in the case, did not face prison time.

Chavez was sentenced to three years of probation, eight months of home detention and was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez — who also surrendered his medical license — operated a ketamine clinic and sold the drug to Plasencia, who then distributed it to Perry.

Plasencia is asking that his 30-month prison sentence be tossed out and his case sent back for resentencing, per TMZ. He is also challenging other aspects of his sentence, including what his lawyers describe as “improper double-counting tied to allegations he altered records during the investigation,” the outlet stated.

Jasveen Sangha, also known as the “Ketamine Queen” who sold Perry the fatal dose of ketamine, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for her long-running drug dealing activities.

She pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Perry, known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit television sitcom, died at age 54 from the acute effects of ketamine use, exacerbated by accidental drowning.