Five people are charged in the investigation into the death of Matthew Perry.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A prosecutor says five people have been charged in connection with Matthew Perry's Death from a ketamine overdose last year, including the actor's assistant and two doctors.

US Attorney Martin Estrada announced the charges on Thursday. He said doctors gave Perry a large amount of ketamine and even asked in a text message how much the former “Friends” star would be willing to pay.

“These defendants exploited Mr. Perry's addiction problems to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.

Perry died of a ketamine overdose in October and received several injections on the day of his death from his personal assistant, who lived with him.

Two of the people, including one of the accused doctors, have been arrested, Estrada said. Two of the defendants, including Perry's assistant, have already pleaded guilty, and a third person has agreed to plead guilty.

The prosecutor said the defendants exchanged messages shortly after Perry's death citing ketamine as the cause of death. Estrada said they were trying to cover up their involvement in supplying Perry with ketamine, a powerful anesthetic sometimes used to treat chronic pain and depression.

Los Angeles police said in May that they are working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Postal Inspection Service to investigate why the 54-year-old had so much of the surgical anesthetic in his body.

Perry was found face down in his hot tub on October 28 and was immediately pronounced dead by paramedics who were called to the scene.

His autopsy, which was released in December, revealed that the amount of ketamine in his blood was within the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

The decades-old drug has seen a huge increase in use in recent years as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. People close to Perry told the coroner that he was undergoing Ketamine infusion therapy.

However, the medical examiner said Perry's last treatment 1 1/2 weeks ago would not explain the level of ketamine in his blood. The drug is normally cleared within a few hours. Perry was treated by at least two doctors, a psychiatrist and an anesthesiologist who acted as his primary care physician, the medical examiner's report said. No illegal drugs or paraphernalia were found in his home.

Ketamine was listed as the primary cause of death. The death was ruled an accident, with no foul play suspected, the report said. Drowning and other medical problems were contributing factors, the coroner said.

Perry had for years struggles with addiction This goes back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest television stars of his generation as Chandler Bing alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. NBC's megahit sitcom.

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Balsamo reported from New York.