Doctor pleads guilty in Matthew Perry death

Dr. Mark Chavez of California admitted in a federal court on Wednesday that he illegally distributed the sedative ketamine which eventually led to the death of Friends TV star Matthew Perry. Chavez fraudulently used another patient’s prescription to obtain and sell ketamine to the actor, a sedative commonly used as an anesthetic, but also abused as a so-called club drug, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Perry fatally drowned in a hot tub last year after suffering the acute effects of the drug, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report.

Didn’t Chavez already plead guilty? Investigators said in August that the doctor planned to plead guilty, but that plea was not formalized until Wednesday. With Chavez’s formal guilty plea, he will be sentenced for conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry and will testify against two of the five other defendants charged in Perry’s death. Chavez will remain free on bond until his April sentencing.

Who else is charged in Perry’s overdose? Authorities charged five people for Perry’s death, and only two have failed to reach a plea agreement. Jasveen Sangha and Dr. Salvador Plasencia are scheduled to be tried in March, and Chavez agreed to testify against the pair. Sangha, who the Department of Justice said is known as “The Ketamine Queen,” allegedly trafficked several types of drugs in the North Hollywood area, including cocaine, methamphetamine capsules, and other fraudulently obtained prescription drugs. She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, with a maximum sentence of life in prison, the DOJ said.

Dr. Plasencia allegedly obtained and sold ketamine without a legitimate medical reason and outside of professional practice, according to the California federal prosecutor’s office. Authorities also charged Dr. Plasencia for allegedly falsifying medical records in the investigation to show a treatment plan to pass off the injections as legitimate.

Dig deeper: Sharon Dierberger takes a look at other notable deaths in 2023 for WORLD Magazine.