(Web Desk) - A California doctor who supplied ketamine to Friends star Matthew Perry has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison - becoming the first person to receive a sentence in the actor's overdose death.
Dr Salvador Plasencia was one of five charged in a multiyear federal investigation that examined how Perry acquired the dissociative anaesthetic through an underground drug network in Hollywood.
Perry, 54, was found dead at his Los Angeles home in 2023 after years of struggling with depression and addiction.
The actor's family asked the judge for a lengthy sentence, calling Plasencia the "most culpable", and detailing their struggle to understand why he repeatedly supplied Perry with drugs.
Perry's mother, Suzanne Morrison, was among several family members who spoke in court ahead of Plasencia's sentencing. She highlighted text messages included in court records, where Plasencia had called Perry a "moron" and wondered how much he would be willing to pay for the drugs.
She was emotional, addressing Plasencia directly. "There was nothing moronic about that man," his mother said, adding that the doctor took an oath to protect people and he should have protected her son.
Plasencia also spoke in court and addressed Perry's family, expressing both regret and remorse while his own mother cried in a seat behind him. Plasencia said he has a two-year-old son.
"I want to raise him right," he said. "I also think about how to explain this to him."
He also apologised to Perry's family.
"I failed myself. There is no excuse. I can't undo what's been done. I know that. I should have protected him, as his mother said. I'm just so sorry."
Along with his prison term, the Santa Monica doctor was ordered by US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett to pay a $5,600 (£4,195) fine.
He was immediately taken into federal custody following the sentencing decision.