Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced

17/12/2025 17:29

A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying "Friends" star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor's fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.



Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.



Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service.



As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer.



Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.



He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry's ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.



The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks - Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the "Ketamine Queen;" a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry's former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.