Doctor who gave Matthew Perry ketamine pleads guilty to drug charges

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, entered the plea in federal court in Los Angeles, becoming the third person to plead guilty following the “Friends” star's death last year.

Prosecutors offered Chavez and two others lesser charges in exchange for their cooperation as they pursue two targets they believe are more responsible for the overdose death: another doctor and an alleged dealer they say is known as the “ketamine queen.” Los Angeles was known.

Chavez is free on bail after surrendering his passport and medical license, among other things.

His attorney, Matthew Binninger, said after Chavez's first court appearance on August 30 that he was “incredibly remorseful” and was trying to “do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”

Also cooperating with federal prosecutors are Perry's assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and an acquaintance of Perry's who admitted to acting as a drug courier and middleman.

The three support the prosecutors in pursuing their main goals: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who is accused of illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, an alleged dealer who sold the actor the fatal dose. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his previous clinic and from a wholesaler where he filled a fraudulent prescription.

If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on October 28, 2023. The coroner concluded that ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had used the drug through his family doctor as part of a legal but unlicensed treatment for depression, which is becoming increasingly common.

Perry began taking more ketamine than his doctor wanted to give him. About a month before the actor's death, he met Plasencia, who in turn allegedly asked Chavez to get the drug for him.

“I wonder how much this idiot will pay,” Plasencia Chavez wrote to prosecutors, according to court documents. The two met the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the documents say.

After Plasencia sold the drugs to Perry for $4,500, he allegedly asked Chavez if he could continue supplying them so they could become Perry's “go-to guy,” prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the indictment Aug. 15 that “doctors exploited Perry's history of addiction in the final months of his life last year to provide him with ketamine in quantities they knew he would have.” are dangerous.”

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. From 1994 to 2004, he starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer on NBC's mega-hit sitcom for ten seasons.

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