Doctor pleads guilty in Matthew Perry overdose

3/10/2024 5:59

        One of two California
        doctors who were among the five people charged in the overdose
        death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry pleaded guilty on
        Wednesday to illegally distributing the drug ketamine.
        
        Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego entered the plea during an
        appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. He could face
        up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled
        for April.
        
        Another physician charged in the case, Dr. Salvador
        Plasencia, has pleaded not guilty, as has co-defendant Jasveen
        Sangha, who authorities said was an illicit supplier of the drug
        and was known as the "ketamine queen." The pair are scheduled to
        go on trial in March.
        
        Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who
        admitted to injecting Perry with the drug, and the alleged
        middleman who said he obtained ketamine from Sangha, have
        already pleaded guilty to charges they faced.
        
        Authorities said Plasencia purchased ketamine from Chavez,
        and in text messages to Chavez discussing the amount to charge
        Perry for the drug wrote: "I wonder how much this moron will
        pay."
        
        In court on Wednesday, Chavez, 54, stood at a podium and
        answered "yes, your honor" to a series of questions.
        
        The defendant admitted to obtaining ketamine with a
        fraudulent prescription written for another patient and that he
        knew the drug was intended for Perry.
        
        He also acknowledged providing ketamine, a short-acting
        anesthetic, to Plasencia, and that he understood it should only
        be administered under medical supervision with proper safety
        equipment nearby.
        
        According to court documents, Plasencia administered
        ketamine to Perry at the actor's home and supplied vials that
        were injected by the assistant. Plasencia's lawyer has said his
        client properly prescribed and administered ketamine to Perry.
        
        Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 from "acute effects" of
        ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness
        and drown in his hot tub, according to a December 2023 autopsy
        report.
        
        The actor had publicly acknowledged decades of substance
        abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on
        the hit 1990s television sitcom "Friends."
        
        Chavez pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors,
        who offered him lesser charges for his assistance in their case
        against Plasencia and Sangha.
        
        "He has accepted responsibility. He is cooperating," Matt
        Binninger, Chavez's attorney, said in court.
        
        Chavez has relinquished his medical license and remains free
        on bond until his sentencing.