Matthew Perry died nearly 10 months ago, but friends and family continue to honor the memory of his work, friendship and kinship.
On Monday, the verified “Friends” Instagram account reminded the world of Perry’s soul on what would have been his 55th birthday, just five days after charges were filed in connection with the drug supply underlying his tragic end.
“On this day, we remember the light that was Matthew Perry,” the account said in a post that included a photo of a young adult Perry in a jacket.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed charges against five defendants alleged to have conspired to provide Perry with the party drug ketamine, according to the criminal complaint.
Ketamine, an anesthetic, gained a following in the club scene in decades past because it has psychedelic properties. In more recent years it has been the subject of experimentation to treat depression and addiction, though it has not been approved for widespread treatment of either.
After Perry was found face down in a pool at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine.
Perry, open about his challenges with substance abuse, requested the drug, and the defendants helped to provide it, authorities have alleged. Perry’s September-to-late-October supply of about 20 vials cost him $55,000 in cash, federal prosecutors said.
Jasveen Sangha, 41, is alleged to have conspired to distribute the drug to Perry, according to the charges. Dubbed by officials as the “Ketamine Queen,” she also faces additional drug-related allegations, such as maintaining a drug-involved premises. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a Santa Monica doctor, was also charged with conspiracy to distribute the drug.
Both pleaded not guilty Aug. 15.
The three other defendants, including another doctor, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine or have agreed to do so, prosecutors said.
Lawyer Mark Geragos, whose firm represents Sangha, said he thinks prosecutors are trying to make a criminal case out of something that isn’t.
“Just because it’s a tragedy doesn’t mean it’s criminal,” Geragos said Thursday on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.” “I just don’t see it in terms of a criminal case.”
Stefan Sacks, a lawyer for Plasencia, said in an interview that his client and Perry had a doctor-patient relationship in which Perry paid for ketamine treatments.
Outside a courtroom Thursday, he said that Plasencia’s actions didn’t rise to the level of criminal misconduct and that Plasencia “was operating with what he thought were the best of medical intentions.”
“His only concern was to give the best medical treatment and to do no harm,” Sacks said. “Unfortunately, harm was done. But it was after his involvement.”
All five defendants are Southern California residents, prosecutors said.
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