A California doctor has been sentenced to 2½ years in prison for illegally supplying Friends star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the US actor’s drug overdose death in 2023.

Dr Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent-care clinic outside Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in a federal court in July to four felony counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anaesthetic.

He could have faced up to 40 years in prison had he been convicted at trial.

Plasencia was the first to be sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death at age 54.

He admitted to illegally selling large amounts of ketamine to Perry, though he did not supply the dose that authorities say killed the actor.

Plasencia admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. According to court filings, he texted another doctor that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money.

“Rather than do what was best for Mr Perry – someone who had struggled with addiction for most of his life – defendant sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit,” the prosecution’s sentencing memo said.

Plasencia’s lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him in their memo, as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, some of whom provided testimonials about him for the court.

Lawyers called his selling to Perry “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life”.

“You and others helped Mr Perry stay on the road to such an ending while continuing to feed his addiction,” US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said before sentencing Plasencia to prison and with a $US5600 ($A8500) fine.

Addressing the court before the sentence on Wednesday, Plasencia expressed remorse and said he took full responsibility for his actions.

“I failed Mr Perry, I failed his family, and I failed the community,” he said, before turning to face members of Perry’s family seated in the courtroom and adding, “I’m just so sorry.”

Delivering a victim impact statement earlier in the proceeding, Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said: “There is an oath that doctors take, and I think it really got forgotten.”

Looking at Plasencia, she said: “I want you to see this is the mother” and added “this was a bad thing to do.”

Plasencia’s lawyers said he had moved to Arizona with his wife and a two-year-old son, for whom he is a loving caretaker.

Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. Prosecutors agreed to drop five different counts. The agreement came with no sentencing guarantees, and the judge still had the option of a jail sentence of up to 40 years.

Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry and his stepfather, Dateline journalist Keith Morrison, were attended Wednesday’s hearing.

The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced in coming months.

Perry died at age 54 after struggling with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on the mega-hit sitcom.

-with AP