00:00A California doctor was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Wednesday for illegally supplying Friends sitcom star Matthew Perry with ketamine.
00:11The powerful sedative caused the actor's drug overdose death in October 2023.
00:17Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent care clinic outside Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in federal court in July to four felony counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anesthetic.
00:28He could have faced up to 40 years in prison had he been convicted at trial.
00:33He is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with Perry's death, all of whom pleaded guilty.
00:39Perry's stepfather, Keith Morrison, who left the courthouse alongside the actor's mother, Suzanne Perry, called the case a tragic story.
00:47You've been through so much.
00:49Look, it's a tragic story and, you know, sometimes apparently nice guys do bad things and the legal system has to take account.
00:57Was there any relief at all, sir?
01:02The mother of Dr. Plasencia expressed relief and remorse outside of the courthouse after the sentencing.
01:08It couldn't be worse, but thank you, God.
01:12Thank you, Josh.
01:13Thank you, everybody.
01:14And I'm sorry, all the family, or Matthew Perry.
01:18I'm sorry.
01:19And my son, he says sorry.
01:23I know his heart.
01:26We all made mistakes.
01:27Where did we stay?
01:28How did everything start?
01:30I don't know.
01:32But I love my son.
01:33Perry was found by his live-in assistant floating face down and lifeless in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home.
01:40An autopsy concluded Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown.
01:49Toxicology tests found ketamine in Perry's body at high levels within a range typically associated with general anesthesia used in monitored surgical care.
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