Salvador Plasencia is appealing the 30-month prison sentence he received in Matthew Perry’s ketamine case.
The former California physician, known in court records as “Dr. P,” pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of distributing ketamine. He was sentenced in December to two and a half years in federal prison.
TMZ reported that Plasencia is now asking the Ninth Circuit to throw out that sentence and send the case back for resentencing.
His appeal does not claim he committed no crime. According to TMZ, his lawyers argue the judge wrongly treated him as a doctor who abused a medical position of trust when, in their view, Perry was looking for a source of ketamine rather than legitimate treatment.
The Appeal Challenges the Doctor-Patient Finding
TMZ reported that Plasencia’s lawyers argue Perry was not seeking him out for ordinary medical care.
The appeal claims Plasencia should not have received a harsher sentence based on abusing a physician’s position of trust because his role in the case was closer to that of a drug dealer supplying ketamine.
The filing also challenges what his lawyers describe as improper double-counting tied to allegations that Plasencia altered records during the investigation. TMZ reported that the appeal compares his punishment with the sentences or roles of other defendants in the case, including Mark Chavez and Erik Fleming.
Prosecutors Described the Conduct Very Differently
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Plasencia repeatedly sold ketamine to Perry despite knowing the actor had a documented history of addiction.
In its sentencing release, the DOJ said Plasencia also knew Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was administering the drug without medical training or supervision.
Prosecutors said Plasencia owned and operated Malibu Canyon Urgent Care LLC, a Calabasas-based urgent-care clinic, and knew ketamine was a controlled substance with risks that included sedation, psychiatric events, abuse, and misuse.
The DOJ Said He Charged $57,000
According to prosecutors, Plasencia was introduced to Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, after another patient described Perry as a “high profile person” seeking ketamine and willing to pay cash.
The DOJ said Plasencia contacted Chavez the same day, bought ketamine vials and other supplies, drove to Perry’s Los Angeles home, injected Perry with ketamine, and left at least one vial with Iwamasa. Prosecutors said Iwamasa paid him $4,500.
From Sept. 30 to Oct. 12, 2023, prosecutors said Plasencia distributed 20 vials, multiple tablets, and syringes to Iwamasa and Perry. The DOJ said he charged $57,000, while prosecutors described the going price of ketamine as about $15 per vial.
He Was Not Accused of Providing the Fatal Dose
The DOJ said Perry fatally overdosed on ketamine on Oct. 28, 2023.
The same sentencing release said Plasencia did not provide the ketamine that caused Perry’s death.
Prosecutors still argued that he exploited Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit and continued supplying ketamine after seeing signs of risk. The DOJ said Plasencia later falsified treatment notes and an invoice after Perry’s death in response to a DEA subpoena.
The Case Is Back Before the Courts
Perry died in October 2023 at age 54.
Plasencia was one of several people charged in the federal ketamine investigation. The DOJ said Chavez, Iwamasa, Fleming, and Jasveen Sangha also pleaded guilty to federal drug charges connected to the case.
Plasencia’s appeal asks the Ninth Circuit to send the case back for a new sentencing hearing.