Five charged over death of 'Friends' star Matthew Perry
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00:00Five people, including a personal assistant to Matthew Perry, and two doctors, have been
00:04charged in connection with the actor's death.
00:07The Friends star died 10 months ago due to a ketamine overdose.
00:12Perry had been receiving regular ketamine infusion treatments from his regular doctors
00:17to treat depression.
00:19However, according to authorities, they were not among those charged.
00:22France 24's Waseem Khornai has more on this story from Los Angeles.
00:28Authorities have charged five people with providing Perry with ketamine, among them
00:32his personal live-in assistant, two doctors, and a drug dealer known as the Ketamine Queen.
00:38Prosecutors said they believe his personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with two
00:42doctors, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia, to obtain thousands of dollars worth of ketamine.
00:49But the doctors were selling the drug at a major markup.
00:52They were charging Matthew Perry $2,000 per vial, when in fact it was costing them $12.
00:58Text messages between the two doctors show Plasencia telling Chavez, quote, I wonder
01:03how much this moron will pay.
01:05Let's find out.
01:07Prosecutors also say that Plasencia taught Perry's assistant, Iwamasa, how to inject
01:11the actor with ketamine, despite having no medical knowledge or medical background.
01:17Earlier this month, Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine
01:22causing death.
01:23He also admitted performing several injections on the actor on the day of his death.
01:29He faces up to 15 years in prison for his actions.
01:32Chavez, meanwhile, could be locked up for as many as 10 years.
01:36Plasencia and Jasfin Sanga, the Ketamine Queen, are facing 120 years in jail and a life sentence
01:43respectively.
01:44The two are believed to have held a much more active role in the distribution and possession
01:49of the drug.
01:50In March, authorities searched Sanga's home in Los Angeles and found what they called,
01:54quote, a drug selling emporium.