Doctor Charged In Matthew Perry's Death Argues He Acted As a Drug Dealer, Not Doctor in Appeal

One of the doctors convicted in the Matthew Perry ketamine case is embracing a label most physicians would run from ... telling an appeals court he was functioning as a drug dealer, not a doctor, when he sold ketamine in this case.

According to new court documents, obtained by TMZ, Dr. Salvador Plasencia is asking the Ninth Circuit to toss his 30-month prison sentence and send his case back for resentencing ... arguing the judge wrongly punished him for abusing a physician's position of trust.

In the filing, Plasencia makes a stunning claim ... insisting Perry wasn't seeking him out for legitimate medical treatment, but was instead looking for a reliable source of ketamine. Because of that, his attorneys argue, he shouldn't have been treated as a doctor who betrayed a patient, but rather as a more common drug dealer.

The appeal repeatedly compares Plasencia to the other defendants caught up in the ketamine scandal ... arguing his role was closer to that of a drug dealer than a physician providing medical care.

Plasencia is also challenging several other aspects of his sentence, including what his lawyers describe as improper double-counting tied to allegations he altered records during the investigation.

He's further arguing he received a harsher punishment than fellow defendants Mark Chavez and Erik Fleming, claiming the disparity was unfair.

As TMZ previously reported, Plasencia pleaded guilty to four ketamine-distribution counts and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Prosecutors alleged he supplied ketamine to Perry in the weeks before the actor's death.