Telegraph Reporters
02 October 2024 8:47pm
A doctor charged over the death of Matthew Perry, the Friends actor, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine.
Dr Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and is the third person to plead guilty in the investigation into Perry’s fatal overdose last year.
He entered the plea in a federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Prosecutors offered lesser charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their cooperation while they pursue another doctor and an alleged dealer dubbed the “ketamine queen”, who they believe are most responsible for Perry’s death.
After his first court appearance on Aug 30, Chavez’s lawyer, Matthew Binninger, said that his client was “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here”.
Also working with federal prosecutors are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and an acquaintance of the actor who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.
The three are assisting prosecutors in their prosecution of Dr Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.
Following his guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Off-label treatment
Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct 28. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.
The actor began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before his death, he found Dr Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Dr Plasencia texted Chavez. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.
After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Dr Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to.”
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. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.
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