August 18, 2025 • 5 mins
I've successfully identified the five individuals charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death and have a clearer understanding of their roles. The defendants are Jasveen Sangha, a dealer known as the 'Ketamine Queen'; Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez, both physicians; Erik Fleming, a street dealer; and Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry's live-in personal assistant. The investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration indicates a 'broad underground criminal network' that allegedly supplied Perry with a fatal amount of ketamine.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You found the podcast Go Beyond the Brief, where we
take a deep dive into the societal currents shaping our lives. Together,
we'll explore the often unseen forces at play. We'll examine
the research, dissect the data, and most importantly, if you're
seeking to understand what's shaping our society.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Were plunging into a story that's been really impactful and
frankly tragic. It's the recent federal charges filed in the
death of actor Matthew Perry.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Our mission here really is to try and unravel this
incredibly complex clandestine network that supplied him with illicit kenmy Yeah,
which as we know, led to his passing back on
October twenty eighth, twenty twenty three. The cause was cited
as the acute effects of Kenemy.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
And what's really striking here, I think is that this
wasn't just some simple isolated thing. This unfolded as a
well a really meticulous multi agency investigation. You had the
LPD involved, the DEA, and even the US Postal Inspection Service,
which tells you something right there.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
They were all working together to basically peel back the
layers on what turned out to be a well, a
pretty broad underground criminal network.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the people charged. I mean it's quite a list.
Five individuals. You've got two physicians, Perry's own personal assistant
and acquaintance, and then like a high level drug dealer.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It's a very diverse group.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It really is. From an investigative angle. Does having such
a varied group does that make it harder to piece
together or maybe easier in some ways?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, it often makes it more complex initially, Yeah, but
it also kind of reveals how, you know, pervasive these
networks can become. Each person, as different as they seemed,
played a really specific and critical role. Okay, Kenneth Ewamasa,
for example, Perry's personal assistant, he was maybe the most
directly involved. He actually admitted to injecting Perry something like
(01:54):
six to eight times per day.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Wow, six to eight times.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, And the chilling part. He said he was taught
how to do these injections by doctor Salvador Placentia, one
of the physicians charged, known as doctor p.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Apparently, so the doctor taught the assistant how to administer
the kedemy.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
That's what you are also stated, yes, and that sheer
volume Perry was consuming. It's just a you know, a
stark illustration of how addiction can escalate.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Absolutely. So, Okay, we have these key players, their roles
are kind of outlined. How did their actions actually you know,
come together to form the supply network getting to Perry.
The investigation found what two different supply chains, both ending
up at his home well, which suggests, like you said,
his demand was really.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Increasing exactly two distinct chains. The first one seems to
have started with doctor Mark Chavez. He's a physician down
in San Diego, Okay. He was apparently diverting ketamine from
his own practice and even getting more using like fraudulent prescriptions.
He then sold this diverted ketamine to the other doctor,
doctor Placentia.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Doctor p got it, and.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Placentia then supplied it to Perry through these iwamasa. Apparently,
doctor Placentia even personally injected Perry early on, and like
we said, taught Ewamasa how to do it too.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It shows how these legitimate medical channels can get.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Corrupted totally from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
But then as that first source started drying up, something
else happened, something more dangerous.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, that's when the second chain comes in, the lethal one.
As it turned out, Yamasa, the assistant apparently started running
low on the supply from doctor Placentia. Okay, so he
sought out a new source. He went through an acquaintance
of Perry's named Eric Fleeing Right.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And Fleming connected him to Jasvin Soga. The authorities called
her the ketamine.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Queen, the ketamine Queen.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Wow. Yeah, and Fleming delivered twenty five vials of Songas
kedymene to Ewamasa just four days, literally, four days before
Perry died.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Four days. That's incredibly close.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It is. And Ewamasa himself admitted to injecting Perry with
at least three shots of that ketamine. So I guess
ketymine on the actual day he died.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So that timeline directly links Songa's supply to the fatal dose.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
It draws a very stark sl yes. So legally speaking,
how did this resolve? I saw all five defendants pleading guilty.
They avoided a trial.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
That's right?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Was that expected given the complexity? Or does a please
sometimes leave questions unanswered?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
A plea agreement, especially across the board like this often
means the evidence was pretty overwhelming. The key thing here
is that this was pursued as a federal case, right,
and they leveraged these drug induced homicide laws. It's a
specific kind of law designed to hold people accountable when
they're drug dealing directly causes a death.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And the cooperation they got early on from defendants like
Ewamasa Fleming and even doctor Chavz that was apparently instrumental,
so their statements, the evidence they provided, it helped investigators
build a much stronger case against who they saw as
the primary targets, Soga, the ketamine Queen and doctor Placentia gotcha.
(04:56):
And you know, this case really stands out because it
wasn't just prosecuting some low level street dealers, right, This
was a major federal effort and at taking down a
really sophisticated, broad underground criminal network, one that mixed career
criminals with corrupted medical professionals, and that postal Inspection service involvement,
it just underscores how wide their operations reached, probably using
(05:19):
them now.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So really it marks the end of a very complex investigation.
They brought some accountability for the people who will who
exploited Matthew Perry's addiction and vulnerability.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Absolutely, and it kind of leaves you with a thought.
Doesn't it for you the listener? What does this case,
especially with doctors involved and this big, multi agency federal push,
What does it really tell us about how drug distribution
and addiction are evolving today? What bigger questions does it
maybe raise about where these illicit markets meet public health
(05:50):
questions we as a society might need to start looking
at more proactively
You found the podcast Go Beyond the Brief, where we
take a deep dive into the societal currents shaping our lives. Together,
we'll explore the often unseen forces at play. We'll examine
the research, dissect the data, and most importantly, if you're
seeking to understand what's shaping our society.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Were plunging into a story that's been really impactful and
frankly tragic. It's the recent federal charges filed in the
death of actor Matthew Perry.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Our mission here really is to try and unravel this
incredibly complex clandestine network that supplied him with illicit kenmy Yeah,
which as we know, led to his passing back on
October twenty eighth, twenty twenty three. The cause was cited
as the acute effects of Kenemy.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
And what's really striking here, I think is that this
wasn't just some simple isolated thing. This unfolded as a
well a really meticulous multi agency investigation. You had the
LPD involved, the DEA, and even the US Postal Inspection Service,
which tells you something right there.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
They were all working together to basically peel back the
layers on what turned out to be a well, a
pretty broad underground criminal network.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the people charged. I mean it's quite a list.
Five individuals. You've got two physicians, Perry's own personal assistant
and acquaintance, and then like a high level drug dealer.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It's a very diverse group.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It really is. From an investigative angle. Does having such
a varied group does that make it harder to piece
together or maybe easier in some ways?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, it often makes it more complex initially, Yeah, but
it also kind of reveals how, you know, pervasive these
networks can become. Each person, as different as they seemed,
played a really specific and critical role. Okay, Kenneth Ewamasa,
for example, Perry's personal assistant, he was maybe the most
directly involved. He actually admitted to injecting Perry something like
(01:54):
six to eight times per day.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Wow, six to eight times.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, And the chilling part. He said he was taught
how to do these injections by doctor Salvador Placentia, one
of the physicians charged, known as doctor p.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Apparently, so the doctor taught the assistant how to administer
the kedemy.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
That's what you are also stated, yes, and that sheer
volume Perry was consuming. It's just a you know, a
stark illustration of how addiction can escalate.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Absolutely. So, Okay, we have these key players, their roles
are kind of outlined. How did their actions actually you know,
come together to form the supply network getting to Perry.
The investigation found what two different supply chains, both ending
up at his home well, which suggests, like you said,
his demand was really.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Increasing exactly two distinct chains. The first one seems to
have started with doctor Mark Chavez. He's a physician down
in San Diego, Okay. He was apparently diverting ketamine from
his own practice and even getting more using like fraudulent prescriptions.
He then sold this diverted ketamine to the other doctor,
doctor Placentia.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Doctor p got it, and.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Placentia then supplied it to Perry through these iwamasa. Apparently,
doctor Placentia even personally injected Perry early on, and like
we said, taught Ewamasa how to do it too.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It shows how these legitimate medical channels can get.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Corrupted totally from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
But then as that first source started drying up, something
else happened, something more dangerous.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, that's when the second chain comes in, the lethal one.
As it turned out, Yamasa, the assistant apparently started running
low on the supply from doctor Placentia. Okay, so he
sought out a new source. He went through an acquaintance
of Perry's named Eric Fleeing Right.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And Fleming connected him to Jasvin Soga. The authorities called
her the ketamine.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Queen, the ketamine Queen.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Wow. Yeah, and Fleming delivered twenty five vials of Songas
kedymene to Ewamasa just four days, literally, four days before
Perry died.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Four days. That's incredibly close.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It is. And Ewamasa himself admitted to injecting Perry with
at least three shots of that ketamine. So I guess
ketymine on the actual day he died.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So that timeline directly links Songa's supply to the fatal dose.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
It draws a very stark sl yes. So legally speaking,
how did this resolve? I saw all five defendants pleading guilty.
They avoided a trial.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
That's right?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Was that expected given the complexity? Or does a please
sometimes leave questions unanswered?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
A plea agreement, especially across the board like this often
means the evidence was pretty overwhelming. The key thing here
is that this was pursued as a federal case, right,
and they leveraged these drug induced homicide laws. It's a
specific kind of law designed to hold people accountable when
they're drug dealing directly causes a death.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And the cooperation they got early on from defendants like
Ewamasa Fleming and even doctor Chavz that was apparently instrumental,
so their statements, the evidence they provided, it helped investigators
build a much stronger case against who they saw as
the primary targets, Soga, the ketamine Queen and doctor Placentia gotcha.
(04:56):
And you know, this case really stands out because it
wasn't just prosecuting some low level street dealers, right, This
was a major federal effort and at taking down a
really sophisticated, broad underground criminal network, one that mixed career
criminals with corrupted medical professionals, and that postal Inspection service involvement,
it just underscores how wide their operations reached, probably using
(05:19):
them now.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So really it marks the end of a very complex investigation.
They brought some accountability for the people who will who
exploited Matthew Perry's addiction and vulnerability.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Absolutely, and it kind of leaves you with a thought.
Doesn't it for you the listener? What does this case,
especially with doctors involved and this big, multi agency federal push,
What does it really tell us about how drug distribution
and addiction are evolving today? What bigger questions does it
maybe raise about where these illicit markets meet public health
(05:50):
questions we as a society might need to start looking
at more proactively
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