Matthew Perry openly battled addiction. Police allege five people took advantage of it.

Five people, including two doctors, have been charged in relation to actor Matthew Perry’s death, as investigators probe him being 'taken advantage of'.

The charges were announced on Friday morning (AEST), with US Attorney Martin Estrada alleging that Perry was supplied large amounts of ketamine in the lead up to his death, with those involved wondering just how much money Perry would be prepared to pay for the drugs.

Matthew Perry had been unflinchingly honest about his battles with drug addiction later in life, in fact, he wrote in his book that he had almost died when he was just 49. 

While the actor worked hard to get clean, police allege that a relapse occurred in September 2023.

During Estrada's press conference, he alleged that "a broad underground criminal network" distributed the drug to Matthew Perry, and others.

"These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves," Estrada claimed.

Those charged include Perry's former personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, a man named Eric Fleming who is accused of supplying the drugs to Iwamasa, and alleged drug dealer, Jasveen Sangha, colloquially called LA's 'Ketamine Queen'.

"Defendant Plasencia worked with another medical doctor, defendant Mark Chavez, to obtain ketamine. He then worked with Mr Perry's live-in assistant defendant Kenneth Iwamasa to distribute that ketamine to Mr Perry over two months," Estrada alleged. 

"Defendant Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr Perry. He wrote in a text message in September 2023 'I wonder how much this moron will pay.'"

According to Estrada, Plasencia wanted to be the actor's "go-to" for drugs.

"As a doctor, defendant Plasencia knew full well the danger of what he was doing. In fact, on one occasion, he injected Mr Perry with ketamine, and he saw Mr Perry freeze up and his blood pressure spike. Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for defendant Iwamasa to administer to Mr Perry. Of course, defendant Iwamasa had no medical training to speak of," he claimed.

According to Estrada, it was clear that Placentia knew that what he was doing was harming Perry. In fact, he had allegedly told another patient that Perry was spiralling out of control with his addiction, but continued to offer him ketamine.

Estrada said alleged drug dealer Sangha, "took advantage" of Perry by selling him "large amounts of ketamine" over a two-week period on October 2023.

"She sold him approximately 50 vials of ketamine for approximately $11,000 in cash. She worked for the broker, defendant Erik Fleming and also the live-in assistant, defendant Iwamasa to distribute this ketamine," Estrada claimed.

Sangha and the broker defendant Fleming saw this as an opportunity to profit out of Perry, alleged Estrada. "In a text message, the broker wrote, 'I wouldn't do it if there wasn't a chance of me making some money for doing it.'"

Defendant Sonya allegedly sold the batch of ketamine that resulted in Perry's death on October 28th.

Estrada claimed the defendants then attempted to cover up what they had done after reading news reports of Perry's death.

"Defendant Sangha wrote a text message to defendant Fleming saying, 'delete all our messages'. Likewise, after Mr Perry's death, defendant Plasencia falsified medical records and notes to try to make it look like what he was doing was legitimate. It was not...We have filed numerous federal charges against the five defendants," said Estrada. 

These charges include conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of ketamine resulting in death, maintaining drug-involved premises, altering and falsifying records related to a federal investigation and multiple other drug trafficking counts.

Estrada said the statutory maximum sentence defendant Plasencia faces is 120 years in federal prison. For defendant Sangha, the statutory maximum she faces is life imprisonment.

Perry’s assistant and another person have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death and serious bodily injury and are reportedly facing lesser sentences, according to TMZ.

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The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Perry's passing was due to the "acute effects of ketamine", coronary artery disease, the opioid treatment drug buprenorphine and drowning, per news.com.au. 

While the actor had been on official ketamine therapy to treat his mental health, toxicology tests found Perry's body contained dangerously high levels of ketamine, a short-acting anaesthetic with hallucinogenic properties. 

Typically, people with that much ketamine in their systems are in general anaesthesia during surgery, and being monitored by professionals, the medical examiner said.

"In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr Perry than caring for his wellbeing," claimed Estrada.

Together with his biography, Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of drug and alcohol abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on Friends.

More to come.

Feature image: Getty