A doctor convicted in Matthew Perry’s ketamine death case made a stunning argument in a bid to shorten hisprison sentence— claiming he was never really a physician to begin with.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia is urging a federal appeals court to overturn his 30-month sentence.AP
Dr. Salvador Plasencia is urging a federal appeals court to overturn his 30-month sentence, saying the judge unfairly punished him for abusing his role as a doctor when, in reality, he acted more like a ketamine supplier than a medical professional, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
Plasencia claims Perry was not seeking legitimate medical treatment from him, but rather, was looking for a reliable source of ketamine.
His lawyers argue he should not have been sentenced as a doctor betraying a patient’s trust. Instead, they say his actions were more like those of a drug dealer than a medical professional.
Perry was 54 years old when he died in October 2023.Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/MEGA
The appeal repeatedly compares Plasencia’s conduct to that of the other defendants caught up in the deadly scandal, maintaining his role was more akin to a supplier than a doctor providing treatment.
Plasencia is also challenging other parts of his sentence. His lawyers claim the court improperly counted allegations that he altered records during the investigation, causing unfair double-counting.
Perry starred as Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom ”Friends” for its entire 10-season run from 1994 to 2004.
He also claims he was punished more harshly than fellow defendants Mark Chavez and Erik Fleming, calling the sentencing disparities unfair, according to the outlet.
Plasencia previously pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Prosecutors alleged he supplied ketamine to Perry in the weeks leading up to the actor’s death.
While he isn’t disputing his guilt in the case, Plasencia contends that he shouldn’t have received a tougher sentence than those who were also found guilty of supplying ketamine to the late “Friends” star.
Under California law, homeless people can register to vote, even though they do not have a fixed residence. They can use their last fixed address as their voting domicile; they can even specify a geographic location, as long as it is where they live, or where they intend to return.
Nearly 1,200 people registered to vote at a homeless shelter on Skid Row.CA Post
If they do not return there within a year, it is no longer their voting domicile. If they move to another location without the intent to return to the first one, they have to re-register — unless it is already within 14 days of the next election.
They can use a business address — like a homeless shelter — as their address, but only as long as they also intend to reside there.
But there is almost no way 1,200 people can claim a small shelter as a voting domicile. Or that 185 can claim to reside at a center without beds.
Theoretically, it is possible 1,200 people might use a shelter over a year.
To vote from that address, they would have to receive their ballots there. The questions include who collected those ballots; whether they were filled out, and by whom; and whether they were returned.
What is not hard to imagine is how the Raman campaign might have organized a ballot harvesting operation in Skid Row.
Raman’s first job in LA after she moved to the city in 2013 was to work on homeless policy. Before running for City Council in 2020, shefoundedthe SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. And on the City Council, she chairs the committee dealing with homeless issues.
It’s not clear Raman made any impact on the issue. But Raman certainly made connections among the groups, activists, and organizers who work closely with homeless people and shelters throughout LA. She helped fund their operations with taxpayers’ money.
Nithya Raman holds a check for $600,000 on December 6, 2023.Representative Laura Friedman
These were connections that her campaign could easily mobilize to register voters and return ballots.
Until now, the safest presumption was that whatever “ballot harvesting” happened in the election was legal. California is one of the only places in the world that allows this dubious practice, where third parties can return unlimited numbers of other people’s ballots.
Most of the world regards that as stuffing the ballot box. It’s considered fraudulent, or at least potentially so.
But it’s legal in California, and after being blindsided by Democrats who used ballot harvesting in 2018, the first year it was legal, Republicans had adopted it as well by 2020.
Yet what The California Post has learned about what happened on Skid Row during the primary suggests that ballot harvesting there could have crossed the legal line.
At the very least, there should be a federal investigation into what happened.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to make that more difficult when he signed SB 73 just days before the election, barring federal law enforcement from receiving information about voting in the state. The law is likely unconstitutional — like much of what Newsom signs — but it made everything look even more suspicious.
This is not what a free and fair election looks like. It is what sham elections look like in socialist dictatorships, which is perhaps no coincidence.
It cries out for investigation, perhaps prosecution, and remedy.
Joel Pollak is Opinion editor of the California Post.
U.S. military officials said Tuesday that an unmanned drone boat rescued two crew members aboard a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter that crashed in the waters nears the Strait of Hormuz, which President Donald Trump said Iranians shot down.
U.S. officials are describing the rescue as the first time that an unmanned surface drone has been used to successfully rescue crew members at sea.
The AH-64 helicopter crashed at 7:33 p.m. EDT on Monday, leaving the pilots in the waters off Oman, according to U.S. Central Command.
An Arabian Fox MAST-13 unmanned surface vessel, attached to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command's Task Force 59, conducts surveillance in the Arabian Gulf, Nov. 21.
Pfc. Tyrin Saunders/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
"The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition," according to a CENTCOM statement.
The Navy surface drone -- described by a U.S. official as looking like a speedboat -- located the two Apache crew members, who were then able to board the vessel, which transported them to another location on that water where they were then hoisted up to a helicopter for further transport, according to a U.S. official.
"The surface drone that assisted in last night's rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59. The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March," said Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
Trump said Tuesday afternoon that the military informed him Iran was to blame for the helicopter crash, vowing that the U.S. must "respond to this attack."
ABC News has reached out to the White House on whether the weekslong shaky ceasefire with Iran is now over.
What is Task Force 59?
Task Force 59 operates a variety of autonomous surface drones in the waters of the Middle East, as well as aerial drones. The task force, established in 2021, uses its unmanned drones to provide quick reconnaissance capabilities and integrate artificial intelligence to share with crewed warships operating in the region, according to the Navy.
With not enough manned vessels to maintain a constant awareness of what is going on in the Middle East's waters, the drones enhance the 5th Fleet's capabilities to detect smuggling and Iranian malign activity, Navy officials said.
"For pennies on the dollar we can put unmanned platforms out there, we can couple it with artificial intelligence … and then, I think critically important, we can use our manned ships much more efficiently, much more effectively,” then-5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters in October 2022 following a regional exercise to highlight the task force's capabilities. Cooper is now serving as the commander of U.S. Central Command.
The cost for the boat drone used to rescue the Apache crew is estimateed to be about $1.2 million per drone, according to a report from Sacra, a market research firm. That cost is extraordinarily cheap relative to traditional, manned military vessels.
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze patterns of behavior detected by the sensors aboard the drones, which is then shared with commanders and ships operating in the region.
In addition to the Corsair used in the operation, Task Force 59 uses other notable unmanned surface drones including the T-38 Devil Ray and the Sail Drone.
A MARTAC T-38 Devil Ray unmanned surface vessel, attached to U.S. 5th Fleet's Task Force 59, sails in the Arabian Gulf, Oct. 26.
Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Ve/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
The Devil Ray is a high-speed autonomously operated unmanned surface vessel that is mainly used to gather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to its manufacturer.
In one exercise in 2024, it successfully fired live munitions at a training target.
Fast response cutter USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) sails near a U.S sail drone explorer in the Gulf of Aqaba, during the International Maritime Exercise/Cutlass Express.
Sgt. Deandre Dawkins/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
The Sail Drone looks just like its name implies, it is an autonomous water platform topped by a sail that provides power through wind and solar energy, according to its manufacturer.
A network of Sail Drones can provide a clearer at-sea situational awareness in hostile environments, according to its manufacturer.
