Matthew Perry‘s death from a ketamine overdose in 2023 shocked and saddened his loved ones, fellow actors, and fans the world over.

In the new Peacock special Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, which explores the Friends star’s final days and the resulting criminal investigation, the former U.S. attorney whose office opened the case speaks about the five people who have been charged in connection with Perry’s death.

“One of the overall themes of our indictment is that all these defendants should have known better,” says E. Martin Estrada, the former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “They were taking advantage of an individual, and letting their greed drive them to endanger Mr. Perry’s life.”

(Estrada stepped down from the Justice Department last month and has since returned to private practice.)

Perry was ​​found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, 2023, and pronounced dead at the scene. He was 54. At the time, authorities said there was no indication of foul play. An autopsy report later determined that his death was caused by “the acute effects of ketamine.”

The subsequent investigation into Perry’s death led to five individuals being charged in August 2024: Kenneth Iwamasa, the late actor’s personal assistant, who admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training; Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, two doctors accused of distributing ketamine to Perry; Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry’s who allegedly took on the role of a go-between; and Jasveen Sangha, an alleged local drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood.

Estrada notes in the Peacock special that “the defendants have all been charged” and that “three of them have pled guilty and will be co-operating.” Iwamasa pleaded guilty last August to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and Fleming pleaded guilty a day later to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Chavez pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

The charges brought against Plasencia and Sangha are more numerous and severe. Sangha’s charges include one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and five counts of distribution. The special includes a clip of her lawyer, Mark Geragos, claiming that his client “never met Matthew Perry and has nothing to do with Matthew Perry.”

Plasencia has been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and seven counts of distribution, and his lawyer has also denied their validity of the charges.

According to the indictment, Chavez obtained the ketamine distributed to Perry by writing a fraudulent prescription in a different patient’s name without her consent. The indictment also says Plasencia wrote in text messages to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “[Let’s] find out.”

Sangha and Plasencia are slated to stand trial beginning March 4.

“The big takeaway from this case is that when people are involved in reckless activity, whether that be drug dealing or other activity cause the death of others there needs to be accountability,” Estrada says in the special.

Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy also features an interview with Morgan Fairchild, who played Perry’s mother on several episodes of Friends. “I was terribly proud of him. It’s hard in this town to admit you’ve got any problem,” she says in the special, reflecting on Perry’s decision to go public with his struggles with addiction over the years. “I thought it was brave of him and I was very proud of him.”

Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy premieres Feb. 25 on Peacock.