Matthew Perry’s “heartbroken” family has spoken out after five people were charged in connection with the Friends actor’s death last year.

It came as it emerged on Friday (Australian time) that three of those charged – doctor Mark Chavez, Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and a “broker” named Erik Fleming – had already reached plea agreements with US authorities.

The two lead defendants are 42-year-old Dr Salvador Plasencia, of Santa Monica, and 41-year-old Jasveen Sangha, from North Hollywood. US Attorney Martin Estrada said Sangha – dubbed the “ketamine queen” – ran what amounted to “a drug-selling emporium” in her home.

“These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” Estrada said on Thursday in Los Angeles.

He said the five were part of “a broad underground criminal network” that distributed ketamine to Perry and others.

“They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr Perry than caring for his wellbeing,” Estrada said.

Prosecutors allege that the group gave Perry about 20 vials of ketamine in a two-month period towards the end of 2023. He paid them $US55,000 ($83,000) – including paying $2000 for a vial that had cost Chavez $12.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia is alleged to asked in a 2023 text message.

Estrada said Plasencia once injected Perry with illegal ketamine and watched him “freeze up and his blood pressure spike”.

“Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for defendant Iwamasa (who has no medical training) to administer to Mr Perry,” he said.

Estrada said Plasencia told another patient in October 2023, days before Perry’s death, that the star was”spiralling out of control with his addiction”.

“Nonetheless, [he] continued to offer ketamine to Mr Perry,” he said.

The prosecutors said that as Perry’s addiction worsened, he also bought ketamine elsewhere, including from street dealers – who sold the dose that ultimately proved fatal.

An autopsy found that Perry’s death last October, at the age of 54, was due to “acute effects” of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub.

On Thursday, his family welcomed the arrests.

“We were, and still are, heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously,” a statement said.

“We look forward to justice taking its course and we’re grateful for the exceptional work of the multiple agencies whose agents investigated Matthew’s death. We’re hoping unscrupulous suppliers of dangerous drugs will get the message.”

Los Angeles homicide detectives and federal agents have been investigating for months how Perry obtained the prescription drug. He had publicly acknowledged decades of drug and alcohol abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends.

Toxicology tests after his death found Perry’s body contained dangerously high levels of ketamine, a short-acting anaesthetic with hallucinogenic properties.

Typically, people with that much ketamine in their systems were in general anaesthesia during surgery, and being monitored by professionals, they said.

Other contributing factors in his death were drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of the opioid-addiction medicine buprenorphine, which was also detected in his system.

Witness interviews in the autopsy report said Perry had been having ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety.

But his last known treatment was a 10 days before his death, meaning the ketamine found in his system by medical examiners would have been introduced since that last infusion, the autopsy said.

-with AAP