LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 10 months after the death of Matthew Perry, the long-simmering investigation into the ketamine that killed him came dramatically into public view with the announcement that five people had been charged with having roles in the overdose of the beloved “Friends” star.

Here are key things to know about the case, including the two key figures who could be headed for trial and the possibility of the steepest of prison sentences.

A sweeping set of indictments

One or more arrests had been expected since investigators from three different agencies revealed in May they had been conducting a joint probe into how the 54-year-old Perry got such large amounts of ketamine.

The actor had been among the growing number of patients using legal but off-label medical means to treat depression, or in other cases chronic pain, with the powerful surgical anesthetic.

Recent reports suggested indictments might be imminent, but few outside observers, if any, knew how wide-ranging the prosecution would be, reaching much further than previous cases stemming from celebrity overdoses.

When Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, his doctor was charged with providing it. After rapper Mac Miller died in 2017, two men who prosecutors described as a dealer and a middleman were convicted of providing fentanyl-laced oxycodone that helped kill him.

But Perry’s case pulled in both, with indictments against doctors and illegal distributors who prosecutors say preyed on his long and public struggles with addiction. The investigation even went after the live-in personal assistant who prosecutors say helped him get ketamine and injected it directly into him before Perry was found dead in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023.

“They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges.

The prosecution was well under way even before the announcement. Two people including the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a Perry acquaintance, Eric Fleming, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute the drug. A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has agreed to enter a guilty plea.

That leaves prosecutors free to pursue their two biggest targets.

The doctor and the ‘Ketamine Queen’

An indictment unsealed Thursday alleges Perry turned to Los Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia when his regular doctors refused to give him more ketamine. Prosecutors allege Plasencia cashed in on Perry’s desperation and addiction, getting him to pay $55,000 in cash for large amounts of the drug in the two months before his death.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted a co-defendant, according to his indictment.

He pleaded not guilty to seven counts of distribution of ketamine in an appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.

Plasencia’s attorney, Stefan Sacks, said outside court that he “was operating with what he what he thought were the best of medical intentions,” and his actions “certainly didn’t rise to the level of criminal misconduct.”

Prosecutors allege Jasveen Sangha, whom they describe as a drug dealer known to customers as the “Ketamine Queen,” provided the doses of the drug that actually killed Perry, injected into the actor by Iwamasa with syringes supplied by Plasencia.

Sangha also pleaded not guilty. Her attorney Alexandra Kazarian derided the “queen” moniker as made-for-media consumption during the hearing. The lawyer declined comment on the case outside court.

Prosecutors say the other doctor in the case, Chavez, helped Plasencia obtain the ketamine he gave to Perry, while Perry’s acquaintance, Fleming, helped get ketamine from Sangha to Perry.

Chavez could get up to 10 years in prison, Iwamasa up to 15 years and Fleming up to 25 years.

Multiple messages seeking comment from attorneys for the three men were not returned.

Looking ahead to trial

Sangha could get life in prison if convicted as charged, while Plasencia could get up to 120 years. Each has a trial date in October, but it is highly unlikely any would be facing a jury by then, and the two may be tried together. They also could face testimony from the co-defendants who reached plea agreements.

Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar ruled Sangha should be held without bond while awaiting trial, citing prosecutors’ contentions that she had destroyed evidence and funded a lavish lifestyle with drug sales even after Perry’s death.

The judge agreed to release Plasencia after he posted a $100,000 bond.

His attorney argued the Perry case was “isolated” and the doctor should be allowed to treat patients who depended on him at his one-man practice while awaiting trial.

“I’m not buying that argument,” Sagar said, but agreed Plasencia could see patients so long as they signed a document in which he acknowledged the charges.

“People have probably already heard about it from the amount of press,” Sacks told the judge, noting if they hadn’t, they would soon.

Records show Plasencia’s medical license has been in good standing with no records of complaints, though it is set to expire in October and he could face action. He already has surrendered his federal license to prescribe more dangerous drugs.

Pushing back against ketamine

Prosecutors and police presented the Perry case as part of a major pushback against a rise in the illegal use of ketamine that has shadowed the broadening of its legal use.

Los Angeles police said in May they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcment Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into how Perry got the drug. His autopsy, released in December, found the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

“As Matthew Perry’s ketamine addiction grew, he wanted more and he wanted it faster and cheaper. That is how he ended up buying from street dealers and stole the ketamine that ultimately led to his death,” U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram said Thursday. “In doing so, he followed the arc that we have tragically seen with many others. The substance use disorder begins in a doctor’s office and ends in the street.”

Perry had years of struggles with addiction dating back to his time on NBC’s megahit sitcom, “Friends,” for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. Playing Chandler Bing, he became one of the biggest television stars of his generation alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer.

North Korea will be partially resuming international tourism this year after nearly half a decade, according to tourist operators. 

The Beijing-based tourism agency, Koryo Tours, which specializes in tourism to North Korea, announced Thursday that tourism to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will resume in December of this year. 

Tours will only be organized for the North Korean city of Samjiyon but the reopening may be extended to other locations, Koryo Tours said. 

“Having waited for over 4 years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” the agency said in a press release. 

The agency said Samjiyon was chosen because it had recently been developed as a tourist destination. It previously visited in 2018 when filming the British documentary series “Michael Palin in North Korea.”  

NORTH KOREAN OLYMPIC ATHLETES DENIED GIFTS FROM SAMSUNG THAT EVERY OTHER TEAM GOT

Koryo Tours said its North Korean partners had informed the agency that itinerary and dates will be announced in the coming weeks. 

“Once we have finalized dates and itineraries, they will be available for booking our website,” the company said. 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (2nd-R) listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) during their meeting in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. Putin enjoyed a red carpet welcome, a military ceremony and an embrace from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un during a state visit to Pyongyang where they both pledged to forge closer ties.  ((Photo by KRISTINA KORMILITSYNA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images))

The Hermit Kingdom closed its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, banning almost all outsiders from entering the country for business, travel, or non-vital diplomatic relations. The country only partially started to re-open its borders last year. 

The country has struggled to open itself fully since the pandemic, when the regime could not field the necessary resources and infrastructure to effectively combat the outbreak within its borders.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report. 

The roster of candidates bidding to join Ursula von der Leyen’s next College of Commissioners is predominantly male, with only five of the 17 countries that have so far nominated candidates putting forth a woman.

This means that only 29% of the nominees put forward so far are female – whereas in von der Leyen’s previous term in office 48% were women.

Von der Leyen, representing Germany, had asked capitals to nominate two candidates — one male and one female — to give her leeway in appointing a gender-balanced College. No member state has yet obeyed that demand.

It’s an early challenge for the Commission president von der Leyen as she aims to ensure gender parity during her second term in office.

The College is the cabinet that steers the work of the EU’s executive arm and is formed of one Commissioner representing each of the bloc’s 27 member states.

“I want to pick the best-prepared candidates who share the European commitment. Once again, I will aim for an equal share of men and women at the College table,” she told the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg following her re-election in July.

EU governments have until 30th August to submit the names of their nominees to von der Leyen, who is due to start interviewing them this week. She is then expected to allocate policy portfolios to candidates in time for their appointment votes in the relevant committees of the European Parliament in September and October.

With von der Leyen herself elected as president and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on track to become the EU’s foreign policy chief and one of the Commission’s vice presidents, the most prestigious roles in the executive are set to be occupied by women.

The four other women nominees come from Croatia, Finland, Spain and Sweden. The current Croatian Commissioner Dubravka Šuica has been nominated to stay on for another term, Spain has put forth environment minister Teresa Ribera in a bid to secure a high-profile climate or energy portfolio, while Sweden has also fielded a heavyweight in EU affairs minister Jessika Roswall. Finland has nominated MEP Henna Virkunnen.

Scarcity of female candidates

Men are clearly dominating the race for the remaining Commissioner posts, as they always have done. Of the nine member states yet to announce nominations, rumoured female picks are few and far between.

The Danish minister for development cooperation and global climate policy, Dan Jørgensen, is the frontrunner to be nominated by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, according to EU diplomats.

Miguel Poiares Maduro, a former regional development minister, is also tipped to be Portugal’s choice. The Luxembourgish government, meanwhile, is rumoured to be torn between two male candidates: current Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, a socialist, and MEP Christophe Hansen, who belongs to the governing centre-right party.

In the remaining six countries that are undecided or keeping their choices under wraps — Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania and Romania — there are few female candidates tipped to be nominated.

Von der Leyen’s next move unclear

Von der Leyen is the first woman to preside over the EU’s executive arm, and has vowed to develop a “Roadmap for Women’s Rights” during her second term to close the gender pay and pensions gap, tackle violence against women and reconcile care and career.

But her credibility as an advocate of women’s rights is at stake unless she is able to strike a balance in her own team.

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Her outgoing Commission was the most equal to date, composed of 14 men and 13 women. In previous terms, women have been sorely under-represented, making up just a third of former President Jean-Claude Juncker’s cabinet between 2014 and 2019.

However, her demand for two nominations representing both genders is not enforceable by law, meaning she relies on the goodwill of EU leaders.

Asked by Euronews what action von der Leyen could take, a European Commission spokesperson said in a statement: “A couple of weeks ago, the Commission sent the president’s letter to the member states asking them for the names of candidates for the post of Commissioner. The deadline for the answer from member states is 30 August.”

“We will not be commenting on individual announcements by member states in this context,” the spokesperson added.

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Countries have aimed to justify flouting von der Leyen’s demand for two names by saying they are selecting the best candidate for the job.

Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris said in July that he would only field former Finance Minister Michael McGrath despite taking gender parity “extremely seriously”.

Harris said Dublin “doesn’t lightly send their finance minister to Brussels,” meaning the government could be reluctant to propose another female candidate to compete with heavyweight McGrath.

This article has been updated to include Henna Virkkunen of Finland as one of the female Commissioner nominees.

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