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(NEW YORK) — A doctor who admitted to distributing ketamine to Matthew Perry weeks before he died was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Wednesday — the first to be sentenced among the five people convicted in connection with the “Friends” actor’s 2023 overdose death. 

Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He is one of two doctors convicted of providing Perry with ketamine before the actor died in October 2023 at the age of 54. The actor was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.

Plasencia, 44, who operated an urgent care clinic in Calabasas, had been set to go on trial in August in the case prior to reaching a plea agreement. He faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count, prosecutors said.

The former doctor sobbed as he addressed the court before his sentencing.

“I should have protected him,” Plasencia said, saying he failed Perry and the star’s family.

“I have to accept responsibility,” he said.

Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett sentenced him to 30 months in federal prison for each count, to run concurrently, as well as two years of supervised release. She also fined him $5,600.

The judge highlighted that Plasencia did not give the fatal dose of ketamine, but agreed his actions led to Perry going down a road toward his ultimate demise. 

Plasencia was immediately remanded to federal custody.

“He was a drug dealer in a white coat,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello said during the hearing.

Several members of Perry’s family addressed the court on Wednesday. While standing next to Perry’s stepfather, Keith Morrison, his mother, Suzanne Morrison, said softly, directly to Plasencia, “I just want you to see his mother.”

Plasencia’s attorneys said he accepts the sentence “with humility and deep remorse” and maintained he is “not a villain” but was a compassionate doctor who “made serious mistakes.”

“He hopes that this painful experience will help other doctors avoid similar mistakes and prevent other families from enduring a tragedy like this one,” his attorneys, Karen Goldstein and Debra White, said in a statement.

The government recommended a sentence of 36 months in prison, arguing in a filing ahead of the sentencing that Plasencia “sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit.” 

“Indeed, the day defendant met Perry he made his profit motive known, telling a co-conspirator: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay’ and ‘let’s find out,'” prosecutors stated.

Plasencia’s attorneys asked for a sentence of one day credit for time served and three years of supervised release in a filing ahead of sentencing, arguing that prison time is unnecessary given “the punishment Mr. Plasencia has already experienced, and will continue to experience for many years to come.”

“He has already lost his medical license, his clinic, and his career,” they wrote. “He has also been viciously attacked in the media and threatened by strangers to the point where his family has moved out of state for their safety.”

His attorneys stated that Plasencia recklessly treated Perry “without adequate knowledge of ketamine therapy and without a full understanding of his patient’s addiction,” and that it was “the biggest mistake of his life.”

They said he accepts the consequences of his actions and is working to find ways to help people without a medical license and one day hopes to start a nonprofit focused on food insecurity.

His attorneys also tried to differentiate Plasencia from the four other defendants in the case who have also all pleaded guilty — two dealers who provided the fatal dose of ketamine to Perry, the actor’s personal assistant who administered it and another doctor who ran a ketamine clinic.

Plasencia, his attorneys said, treated Perry for “a discrete thirteen-day period in the physician-patient context for depression.”

“Despite the serious treatment mistakes he made, Mr. Plasencia was not treating M.P. at the time of his death and he did not provide him with the ketamine which resulted in his overdose,” they continued.

In an emotional victim impact statement, Perry’s mother and stepfather said they believe Plasencia “is among the most culpable of all.”

The doctor, they said in the statement filed ahead of Plasencia’s sentencing, “conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son … and crow, as he did so, with that revealing question: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay. Let’s find out.'”

“Some things are very hard to understand,” they added.

In a victim impact statement addressed to Plasencia, Perry’s father and stepmother, John and Debbie Perry, said, “You don’t deserve to hear our feelings. How you devastated our family contributing to the loss of Matthew our only son. A warm, loving man who was to be our rock as we aged. An uncle to our grandchildren and the mountain his siblings could turn to.”

They said Perry’s recovery “counted on you saying NO.”

“Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people? What ever were you thinking?” they said while asking the court to hand down a prison term beyond the mandatory sentence “to give you plenty of time to think about your actions.”

According to Plasencia’s plea agreement, he distributed 20 vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges and syringes to Perry and the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between Sept. 30, 2023, and Oct. 12, 2023.

Plasencia “admits that his conduct fell below the proper standard of medical care and that transfers of ketamine vials to Defendant Iwamasa and Victim M.P. were not for a legitimate medical purpose,” his plea agreement stated.

Iwamasa, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, the DOJ said. 

According to Iwamasa’s plea agreement, Perry asked Iwamasa to help him procure ketamine in September 2023 and provided his assistant with “money, or promised to reimburse him, and directed him to find sources from whom to acquire the drugs.”

One of Plasencia’s patients introduced him to Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, with the unidentified patient referring to the actor as a “‘high profile person’ who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay ‘cash and lots of thousands’ for ketamine treatment,'” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.

Plasencia contacted his mentor, Mark Chavez, who had previously operated a ketamine clinic, to discuss Perry’s request for ketamine and purchased vials of liquid ketamine, ketamine lozenges and other items from him, according to the agreement.

Chavez pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

In discussing how much to charge Perry, Plasencia said in text messages to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” the Department of Justice said. 

Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry at the actor’s home on several occasions, and left vials and lozenges with Iwamasa to administer, according to the plea agreement. In one instance, he was paid $12,000 for such a visit, according to the agreement.

One such instance occurred outside of the home, when Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry in a parking lot near an aquarium in Long Beach, according to the plea agreement. Upon learning about that, Chavez “reprimanded” the other doctor “for ‘dosing people’ in cars, and in a public place where children are present,” Chavez’s plea agreement stated.

Plasencia returned to Perry’s home on Oct. 12, 2023, to administer ketamine, during which the actor’s blood pressure spiked, causing him to “freeze up,” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.

“Notwithstanding Victim M.P.’s reaction, defendant left additional vials of ketamine with Defendant Iwamasa, knowing that Defendant Iwamasa would inject the ketamine into Victim M.P.,” the agreement stated.

After receiving 10 more vials of ketamine through a licensed pharmaceutical company using his DEA license, Plasencia texted Iwamasa on Oct. 27, 2023, according to the plea agreement: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine …I can always let her know the plan.”

Perry died the following day after overdosing on ketamine, which Plasencia had not provided, according to the plea agreement.

Plasencia “sold vial after vial of ketamine to Mr. Perry, knowing that Perry’s personal assistant was administering the ketamine without proper oversight or medical training,” the government’s sentencing file stated. “Even after defendant saw Mr. Perry suffer an adverse reaction to a ketamine shot, he still offered to sell Perry more. While the ketamine that killed Mr. Perry on October 28 was not provided by defendant, defendant’s egregious breaches of trust and abandonment of his oath to ‘do no harm’ undoubtedly contributed to the harm that Mr. Perry suffered.”

Following their convictions, both Plasencia and Chavez gave up their medical licenses.

Chavez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 14, 2026, and faces up to 15 years in prison.

Two other defendants in the case — Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha — admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry.

Prosecutors said Sangha worked with Fleming to distribute ketamine to Perry, and that in October 2023, they sold the actor 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to Iwamasa.

Fleming pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2026, and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Sangha, allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen,” pleaded guilty in September to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.

ABC News’ Trevor Ault, Lisa Sivertsen and Alex Stone contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The United States has paused all pending immigration applications from 19 “countries of concern,” meaning that even applicants with pending green card applications will be subject to a pause and review, following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

A memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted on Tuesday says that anyone from a country on the administration’s new travel ban list who is in the United States would have their application for asylum or other benefits, including a green card, paused.

“The Trump Administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,” said a Department of  Homeland Security spokesperson. “We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake. The Trump Administration is reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern.”

The 19 travel ban countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The pause is in effect until USCIS issues guidance on additional vetting of these nationals, according to a source, who has reviewed the internal USCIS documents. 

ABC News previously reported that some swearing-in ceremonies for people from the travel ban list had been abruptly canceled. 

Rosanna Berardi, an immigration attorney, told ABC News that USCIS first issued the policy on Nov. 27, a day after two National Guard members were attacked near the White House by a suspect who authorities say entered the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021. The policy has since been updated and expanded upon, Berardi said. 

“USCIS updated its Policy Manual to require officers to apply these ‘country-specific factors’ when deciding green card applications, extensions or changes of status, waivers, and certain work authorization requests,” Berardi said. “What’s less formal are the reported pauses on certain adjudications for nationals of the 19 listed countries. Those appear to come from internal operational directives, not published policy, and they raise serious legal questions about transparency, statutory authority, and the reach of the travel ban proclamation beyond the entry context.”

“We are awaiting formal guidance,” the attorney said.

Berardi said that, taken together, the moves mean “slower processing, more scrutiny, and more uncertainty for affected applicants while litigation challenges are almost certain to follow.”

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(SIMI VALLEY, Calif.) — The son of a California radiologist has been identified as the suspect in the fatal shooting of his parents at their home.

Dr. Eric Cordes, 63, and wife, Vicki, 66, were shot multiple times in their Simi Valley garage on Sunday shortly after 12 p.m. local time. The couple was taken to a local hospital and later died of their injuries, the Simi Valley Police Department told ABC News. 

Keith Cordes, 37, allegedly shot his father and stepmother multiple times before fleeing the scene to the city of Chino, police said. He then reportedly set the car he escaped in on fire before fatally shooting himself, police said.

The San Bernardino County Medical Examiner’s Office was able to confirm the remains in the car set ablaze as Keith Cordes on Tuesday, police said.

Investigators said they believe that the weapon used in Keith Cordes’s suicide is the same weapon that was used to kill the couple, but forensic testing is still pending.

The circumstances and motive for the double murder are still under investigation, according to police.

The suspect — a resident of Kentucky — allegedly approached the couple in their garage before opening fire on Sunday. He then fled the scene in a black sedan with out of state plates, according to witness statements obtained by police.

Detectives later found the vehicle and the suspect’s remains by tracking its movement using FLOCK cameras and LPR cameras.

Dr. Cordes worked with Focus Medical Imaging for several years before his killing, the radiology clinic told ABC News on Tuesday.

“Dr. Eric Cordes was a brilliant, hard working doctor, and a respected colleague. He served the Simi Valley community and surrounding areas throughout his entire 30 plus year career. His tragic passing will leave a huge hole that will take a long time to fill,” Focus Medical Imaging said. 

Adventist Health Simi Valley, where he also worked, called the couple’s killing a “shocking loss.”

“The Adventist Health Simi Valley community is heartbroken by the tragic deaths of our longtime colleague, Dr. Eric Cordes, and his wife, Vicki. Dr. Cordes was a highly respected, board-certified radiologist and beloved physician who served this community with compassion and excellence for nearly 30 years,” the hospital told ABC News in a statement. 

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(NEW YORK) — The Northeast is bracing for its coldest temperatures of the season as an arctic blast hits the Midwest and then moves east.

On Thursday morning, the temperature is forecast to plunge to 5 degrees in Chicago; minus 4 degrees in Minneapolis; minus 1 degree in Green Bay, Wisconsin; and 8 degrees in Kansas City, Missouri.

On Friday, the temperature could fall to 1 degree in Chicago, 8 degrees in Detroit, 10 degrees in Pittsburgh, 14 in Boston and 21 in New York. Chicago, Pittsburgh and Portland, Maine, could also record daily record lows.

By the weekend, the temperature won’t be as extreme, but it’ll still likely feel cooler than average in the North and Northeast. Unseasonably cold conditions in the East are expected again next week.

Meanwhile, in the West, winter storm alerts are in effect on Wednesday in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, where 3 to 13 inches of snow is forecast.

Much of this snow is welcome, as the mountains have been behind normal snowfall this season.

Denver could see 3 to 6 inches of snow on Wednesday, with totals increasing in higher elevations outside of the city.  

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(LOS ANGELES) – A Waymo driverless taxi drove a passenger into an apparent police standoff in downtown Los Angeles last week, according to a video posted online Monday. 

The Waymo taxi came across a street blocked by police vehicles early Friday before turning into an area that was not blocked off where other vehicles were also traveling, according to a Waymo spokesperson. 

Officers were conducting a high-risk felony arrest after a stolen vehicle pursuit at around 3:40 a.m. when the Waymo drove through an intersection, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Waymo said the vehicle was in the vicinity of the event for “no more than 15 seconds.” 

“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets. When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities,” a spokesperson for Waymo said in a statement to ABC News. 

Officers had not yet blocked off traffic when the Waymo vehicle drove through but did so afterward, the LAPD said.

The incident did not impact the LAPD’s tactics, police said. The LAPD also said it has a 24/7 hotline for coordinating issues with Waymo.

Waymo began operating its driverless taxis in Los Angeles early last year and opened its service to everyone in November 2024.

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(CADILLAC, Mich.) — Two family members have been charged in connection to the death of a pregnant woman in Michigan after authorities allege she was lured to a home and tortured “in an attempt to remove the unborn infant,” according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Cortney Bartholomew, 40, and Bradly Bartholomew, 47 — both from Boon, Michigan — were arraigned on Tuesday in the 84th District Court in Cadillac on multiple felony charges related to the murder of Rebecca Park, 22, of Manton, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Officials allege that on Nov. 3, the couple lured Park — Cortney Bartholomew’s biological daughter who was approximately 38 weeks pregnant at the time — to their Wexford County home in upstate Michigan.

“The couple then allegedly tortured Park in an attempt to remove the unborn infant, resulting in the death of both,” according to the statement from the attorney general’s office. “After an extensive search, Park’s remains were found in the Manistee National Forest on November 25.”

“Rebecca had everything to live for, and our hearts are with her loved ones as they endure this unthinkable loss,” Nessel said. “We are committed to working alongside the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to ensure justice is pursued in this tragic case without delay.”

Cortney and Bradly Bartholomew have each been charged by the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree murder, felony murder, torture and a series of other charges that could land each of them a potential life sentence.

“This case involves a truly horrific homicide in which a young woman and her unborn child endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Defendants,” said Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey. “The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling. While these remain allegations until proven in court, the evidence reflects an extraordinary level of callousness and violence. We look forward to presenting the full facts in court.”

The Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is handling the prosecution of this case with the assistance of the Department of Attorney General, authorities said.

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