Doctor charged in Matthew Perry’s death expected to plead guilty today
Dr Mark Chavez could face up to 10 years of prison for conspiring to distribute ketamine
by Emma Wilkes · NMEIt is expected that one of the two doctors charged in the investigation into the death of Matthew Perry will plead guilty today to conspiring to distribute ketamine.
Dr Mark Chavez, based in San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August. Two others – Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwasama and friend Erik Fleming – have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the Friends star’s fatal overdose on October 28, 2023.
They and Chavez were offered lesser charges by prosecutors in exchange for their cooperation as they pursue to others they believe to be more responsible for Perry’s death, namely Dr Salvador Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha – the so called ‘Ketamine Queen’ – who allegedly supplied Perry with ketamine.
Chavez is free on bond after handing over his passport and surrendering his medical license, among other conditions.
He first appeared in court on August 30 and will be in court in Los Angeles today (October 2). His lawyer Matthew Binninger, said that he is “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here”.
Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he sent in a fraudulent prescription. Despite his agreement to cooperate with prosecutors, he could still get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
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Sangha has pleaded not guilty and claims she never met Perry. Dr Plasencia has also pleaded not guilty to illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death. Both will go on trial in March 2025.
In other news, Hollywood addiction expert Joe Schrank recently said that Perry had surrounded himself with a “toxic” group of “enablers”, explaining: “It was toxic. But that’s what they do. Addicts like Perry are going to surround themselves with enablers – assistants who will not draw lines in the sand, sycophantic hangers-on who’ll do anything to be near a celebrity, including get them drugs – and distance themselves from people that will tell them hard truths.”