LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday at an emotional hearing over the 鈥淔riends鈥� star’s overdose death.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence that included two years of probation and a $5,600 fine to 44-year-old in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
The judge emphasized that Plasencia didn鈥檛 provide the ketamine that killed Perry, but told him, 鈥淵ou and others helped Mr. Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.鈥�
鈥淵ou exploited Mr. Perry鈥檚 addiction for your own profit,鈥� she said.
Plasencia was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his mother cried in the audience. He might have arranged a date to surrender, but his lawyers said he was prepared to do it today.
Perry’s family describes their grief
Perry鈥檚 mother, stepmother and two half sisters gave tearful victim impact statements before the sentencing.
鈥淢y brother鈥檚 death turned my world upside down,鈥� sister Madeline Morrison said, crying. 鈥淚t punched a crater in my life. His absence is everywhere.鈥�
She talked about the broad effect of losing him.
鈥淭he world mourns my brother. He was everyone’s favorite friend,鈥� Morrison said, adding 鈥渃elebrities are not plastic dolls that you can take advantage of. They’re people. They’re human beings with families.鈥�
Perry for years, dating back to his time on 鈥淔riends,鈥� when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on
Who’s responsible for Perry’s death
Plasencia was the first person sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry鈥檚 death at age 54 in 2023.
The doctor admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted another doctor that Perry was a 鈥渕oron鈥� who could be exploited for money, according to court filings.
Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison, while the defense sought just a day in prison plus probation.
Perry鈥檚 mother talked about the things he overcame in life and the strength he showed.
鈥淚 used to think he couldn鈥檛 die,鈥� Suzanne Perry said as her husband, 鈥淒ateline鈥� journalist Keith Morrison, stood at the podium with her.
鈥淵ou called him a 鈥榤oron,鈥欌�� she said, addressing Plasencia. 鈥淭here is nothing moronic about that man. He was even a successful drug addict.鈥�
She spoke eloquently and apologized for rambling before getting tearful at the end, saying, 鈥渢his was a bad thing you did!鈥�
Plasencia apologizes to Perry’s family
Plasencia also spoke, moments after Suzanne Perry, breaking into tears as he imagined the day he would have to tell his now 2-year-old son 鈥渁bout the time I didn鈥檛 protect another mother鈥檚 son. It hurts me so much. I can鈥檛 believe I鈥檓 here.鈥�
He apologized directly to Perry鈥檚 family. 鈥淚 should have protected him,鈥� he said.
Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic legally as a treatment for depression. But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide it in the amounts he wanted, he turned to Plasencia.
Plasencia鈥檚 lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients.
His mother stood to speak after Perry’s mother had spoken, but the judge told her it wasn’t appropriate for this hearing.
Outside the courthouse after, Luz Plasencia told reporters, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry to the family of Matthew Perry.”
“I鈥檓 feeling what they feel,鈥� she said. Speaking about her son, she said, 鈥淚 know his heart.鈥�
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He did not plead to causing Perry’s death, and the amount he distributed was relatively small given that he sold only to Perry.
The judge said she largely agreed with a probation report suggesting the appropriate sentence was between eight and 14 months, but she went well beyond that.
鈥淚 think the judge was very well-reasoned,鈥� Keith Morrison told reporters.
At the start of the hearing, she said that family impact statements may not be appropriate because legally, 鈥渢here is no identifiable victim in this case. The victim is the public.鈥�
But Plasencia’s lawyers said they didn’t object to family members speaking.
A doctor or a drug dealer?
The defense sought to cast Plasencia as a doctor treating a patient who was overcome by recklessness and greed.
鈥淚t was a perfect storm of bad decision-making, everybody agrees,鈥� attorney Karen Goldstein said, adding 鈥渁bsolutely his judgment was clouded by money.鈥�
Prosecutors said he was never acting as a doctor.
鈥淗e wasn’t a negligent or reckless medical provider,鈥� Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello said. 鈥淗e was a drug dealer in a white coat.鈥�
Garnett generally agreed, pushing back against the defense argument that Perry was Plasencia’s patient, and that the doctor had diagnosed him in a phone call they had before the sales began.
鈥淢r. Plasencia kept pushing it,鈥� the judge said. He literally was offering to sell ketamine.”
When another defense attorney, asked 鈥淚s your honor confused about how this all went down?鈥� Garnett replied, sternly, 鈥淣o I’m not.鈥�
The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months. Garnett said she would seek to make sure all the sentences made sense in relation to one another.
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