Matthew Perry remembered on his 55th birthday

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed charges against five defendants accused of conspiring to supply Perry with the party drug ketamine, according to the criminal complaint.

Ketamine, a narcotic, has gained a following in the club scene over the past few decades because of its psychedelic properties. In recent years, it has been tested as a treatment for depression and addiction, although it has not yet been widely approved for the treatment of either of these.

After Perry was found facedown in a pool at his Pacific Palisades home on October 28, the Los Angeles County coroner's office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine.

Perry, who was open about his drug problems, requested the drug and the defendants helped him obtain it, authorities alleged. Perry's supply of about 20 vials from September to late October cost him $55,000 in cash, federal prosecutors said.

Jasveen Sangha, 41, is accused of conspiring to distribute the drug to Perry, according to the indictment. Dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” by authorities, she also faces other drug-related charges, including maintaining a drug-related business. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a Santa Monica doctor, was also charged with conspiracy to distribute the drug.

Both pleaded not guilty on August 15.

The three other defendants, including another doctor, have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine, prosecutors said.

Attorney Mark Geragos, whose law firm is representing Sangha, says prosecutors are trying to turn something that is not a criminal case into a criminal one.

“Just because it's a tragedy doesn't mean it's a crime,” Geragos said Thursday on NewsNation's “Cuomo.” “I just don't see this as a criminal case.”

Stefan Sacks, a lawyer for Plasencia, said in an interview that his client and Perry had a doctor-patient relationship in which Perry paid for the ketamine treatments.

On Thursday, he told the courtroom that Plasencia's actions did not constitute criminal misconduct and that Plasencia “operated with what he believed to be the best medical intentions.”

“His only concern was to provide the best medical care and to do no harm,” Sacks said. “Unfortunately, harm was done. But that happened after he was involved.”

All five defendants are residents of Southern California, prosecutors said.