A doctor who supplied "Friends" star Matthew Perry with ketamine in the months before he fatally overdosed, musing to a fellow physician over "how much this moron will pay" for the drug, was jailed in California on Dec. 3.
Salvador Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to face justice over Perry's 2023 death in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home.
Plasencia was ordered to serve 30 months in prison for supplying the drug to the actor, who had well documented struggles with addiction, at grossly inflated prices.
In a victim impact statement filed with the court, Perry's mother Suzanne Perry and his stepfather, Keith Morrison, said Plasencia, who did not supply the fatal dose of the drug, had neglected his duty as a doctor.
"Matthew's recovery counted on you saying no," they wrote. "Your motives? I can't imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?"
Plasencia's attorneys, Karen Goldstein and Debra White, who had argued for a probationary sentence, said their client, who has surrendered his medical license, was filled with regret.
"He is not a villain. He is someone who made serious mistakes in his treatment decisions involving the off-label use of ketamine, a drug commonly used for depression that does not have uniform standards," they said after the sentencing.
"The mistakes he made over the 13 days during which he treated Mr. Perry will stay with him forever."
Another doctor, Mark Chavez, pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry.
Plasencia allegedly bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the American-Canadian actor at hugely inflated prices.
The four other people who have also admitted their part in supplying drugs to the actor will be sentenced over the coming months.
