Accused doctor is expected to plead guilty

Los Angeles:

One of two California doctors who were among five people charged in the overdose death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to illegal distribution of the drug ketamine.

Dr. Mark Chavez has signed an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a single felony: conspiracy to distribute ketamine, a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties.

Chavez is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) to enter his plea. When the verdict is announced, he faces up to ten years in prison.

Another doctor accused in the case, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, has pleaded not guilty, as has co-defendant Jasveen Sangha, who authorities said was an illegal supplier of the drug and known as the “Ketamine Queen.” The couple's trial is scheduled for March.

Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who admitted to giving Perry injections, and the alleged middleman who said he received ketamine from Sangha, have already pleaded guilty to the charges against them.

Authorities said Plasencia purchased ketamine from Chavez, and in text messages to Chavez discussing the amount Perry should be charged for the drug, he wrote: “I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay.” “

According to court documents, Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry and provided vials that the assistant injected him with.

According to a December 2023 autopsy report, Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 from the “acute effects” of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub.

The actor had publicly acknowledged decades of drug abuse, including during the years he played the role of Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom “Friends.”

Matt Binninger, Chavez's attorney, told reporters in August that his client was “doing everything in his power to cooperate and assist in this situation.”

“He’s incredibly remorseful,” Binninger said.

The lawyer added that Chavez's regret was not due to Perry's celebrity, but to the fact that “someone who wanted treatment died.”

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