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One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday as part of a plea deal for his alleged role in the actor’s death.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, plans to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry, who died of an overdose in October 2023. He was in federal court for a hearing as part od the deal.
At the hearing, Chavez waived his right to a grand jury indictment and was then freed on a $50,000 bond. He could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
The doctor is expected to be back in court in late October to formalize the agreement, according to his attorney.
“He is going to accept responsibility for what he has done... he feels incredible remorse for what happened,” the attorney told DailyMail.com.
Earlier this month, Chavez signed an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic.
Chavez also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they pursue others, including the doctor Chavez worked with to sell ketamine to Perry. Also working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.
The three are helping prosecutors as they go after their main targets: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say is a dealer who 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.
Perry was found dead by his assistant on October 28, 2023. 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.
Seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him, about a month before his death Perry found Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” 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, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to.”
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges on August 15 that “the doctors preyed on Perry’s history of addiction in the final months of his life last year to provide him with ketamine in amounts they knew were dangerous.”
Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two charges related to allegations he falsified records after Perry’s death.
He and Sangha are scheduled to return to court next week. They have separate trial dates set for October, but prosecutors are seeking a single trial that likely would be delayed to next year.
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.
