The “Dateline” correspondent and his family said they’re “grateful for the exceptional work” of the law enforcement agencies responsible for the arrests of five individuals implicated in Perry’s ketamine-related death.

Keith Morrison, the veteran Dateline correspondent and stepfather of Matthew Perry, is speaking out after five people close to the late Friends star were arrested in connection with his 2023 death from acute effects of ketamine.

“We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously,” the Morrison family said Thursday in a statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly. “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.”

The statement came in the wake of a Department of Justice press conference announcing charges against five individuals allegedly involved in Perry’s death: Kenneth Iwamasa, the actor’s personal assistant; Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, both doctors; Erik Fleming, one of Perry’s acquaintances; and Jasveen Sangha, who is referred to locally as “the Ketamine Queen,” according to prosecutors.

Keith Morrison; Matthew Perry.Mike Smith/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images; David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said during the press conference, adding that they were “more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than acting for his well-being.”

Officials said Iwamasa has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, Chavez has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, and Fleming has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.

Perry was ​​found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28 and pronounced dead at the scene. He was 54. At the time, authorities said there was no indication of foul play. In December, an autopsy report revealed that Perry’s death was caused by ketamine, and that drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine (a medication used to treat opioid use disorder) were also contributing factors.

The autopsy report also noted that Perry had been receiving ketamine infusion treatment around the time of his death, but because ketamine has a short half-life, the traces of the substance in his system couldn’t have been from one of those treatment sessions.

Morrison — who married Perry’s mother, Suzanne, in 1981, when Perry was 12 — publicly addressed his stepson’s untimely death in November. In a call for donations to the Matthew Perry Foundation, Morrison wrote on social media, “This is not the sort of thing I commonly do, this pitch. But this year is different… Do what you can; he would have been grateful.”

In March, Morrison told Hoda Kotb that Perry “was happy” before his death, “and he said so. And he hadn’t said that for a long time.” He added that his stepson “didn’t get to have his third act, and that’s not fair.”

Stars who worked closely with Perry continue to mourn his passing, including Lisa Kudrow, who recently revealed that she’d been rewatching Friends for the first time in a long while to remember her friend and castmate. “Matthew, obviously, is just uniquely hilarious,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in June. “No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him.”

Courteney Cox also told CBS Sunday Morning that she still finds Perry to be “probably one of the funniest human beings in the world.” In her grief, she admitted to feeling his presence still lingering, saying, “I sense Matthew’s around, for sure.”