Netflix premieres "The One About Matthew Perry" on Tuesday, October 27, a three-part docuseries about the "Friends" star directed by Emmy winner Mary Robertson, according to Netflix. It arrives one day before the third anniversary of Perry's death.
The series draws on previously unreleased photos and videos from the Perry family archive and features his sister, Mia Perry Bowick, and his lifelong friends, Time Out reported. Bowick says her brother spent more than $7 million trying to get sober. Netflix also lists E. Martin Estrada, the former U.S. attorney whose office led the prosecution, among those interviewed, Enstarz reported.
The criminal case that followed Perry's death is now over. Five people were charged in federal court in Los Angeles. All five pleaded guilty, and the last was sentenced in May.
How Perry died
Perry was found dead by his assistant in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home on October 28, 2023. The autopsy attributed his death to the "acute effects of ketamine," with drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine as contributing factors. The death was ruled accidental, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Five defendants, five sentences
Jasveen Sangha, the North Hollywood dealer dubbed the "Ketamine Queen," received the longest sentence. On April 8, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett sentenced her to 15 years in federal prison, ABC News reported. She had pleaded guilty to five counts, including distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury, which carried a maximum of 65 years combined.
In court, Sangha said she takes "full responsibility for my actions." Her lawyers, Mark Geragos and Alexandra Kazarian, had asked for time served, citing her "demonstrated rehabilitation." Prosecutors, who sought 15 years, cited her "cold callousness and disregard for life."
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who briefly treated Perry, pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution and was sentenced to 30 months. Dr. Mark Chavez, who once ran a ketamine clinic, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine and was sentenced to eight months of home confinement, according to ABC News. Both were sentenced in December 2025.
Erik Fleming, a former drug counselor, was sentenced to two years in prison. Prosecutors said he delivered 50 vials of ketamine from Sangha to Perry and marked up the price, Global News reported. His lawyers said he relapsed when he was approached about Perry.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry's live-in assistant, was the last. On May 27, Judge Garnett sentenced him to 41 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death and was the prosecution's most important witness and the first of the five to reach a plea deal. Dr. Plasencia had taught him how to inject ketamine, Global News reported. His lawyers argued he was an employee following his employer's instructions and that "he could not 'simply say no.' That inability had tragic consequences."
Perry's family saw it differently. In a letter to the judge, his mother, Suzanne Morrison, wrote, "We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price."
The law behind the case
Federal drug law treats a sale that results in death far more seriously than an ordinary distribution charge. That is the count that exposed Sangha to decades in prison.
That is why the sentences varied so much. Each defendant's plea set the charge and the exposure, and cooperation with prosecutors, as in Iwamasa's case, can bring a sentence well below the maximum.
Addiction and the criminal courts also sit at the center of another Los Angeles case. Read what the Rob Reiner case reveals about addiction, mental illness and the law. It is the kind of case the Two Taps legal panel of Daniel Rosenberg, Michael Dye and Lloyd Golburgh takes apart on the show.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
