Criminal charges have been filed against five people in connection with the death of actor and star of the series "Friends" Matthew Perry, Reuters reports.
Those charged include two doctors and Perry's assistant who were part of a "vast underground criminal network" that distributed large quantities of the prescription drug ketamine to the actor and others, US Attorney Martin Estrada said.
"The defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction problems to enrich themselves," Estrada said at a news conference in Los Angeles.
Perry's death was an accident caused by the "acute effects of ketamine," medical officials in Los Angeles previously confirmed.
The American actor was found dead in the pool of his home in Los Angeles in October 2023, but an autopsy at the time was inconclusive. Drowning is cited as a contributing factor in his death. Later tests showed that high levels of ketamine were present in his system. Experts said that usually people who have so much ketamine in their system are under general anesthesia, which is monitored by doctors during surgery.
For months, Los Angeles homicide detectives and federal agents investigated how Peri obtained the prescription drug.
Perry publicly admitted to decades of drug and alcohol abuse. According to interview data cited in his autopsy, he was sober for 19 months before his death. Witness interviews in the autopsy report said he was undergoing ketamine therapy for depression and anxiety.
Perry was best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the sitcom Friends.
The series followed six young friends living in New York and aired from 1994 to 2004. The final episode was watched by 52,5 million in the United States of America (USA), making it the most watched TV episode of the 2000s.
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