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Reuters

One of two California doctors who were among the five people charged in the overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a charge of illegally distributing the drug ketamine.
Mark Chavez entered the plea during an appearance in US District Court in Los Angeles. At sentencing, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Another doctor charged in the case, Salvador Plasencia, has pleaded not guilty, as has co-defendant Jasveen Sangha, who authorities said was an illicit supplier of the drug and was known as the “ketamine queen”.
The pair are scheduled to go on trial in March.
Perry’s live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who admitted to injecting Perry, and the alleged middleman who said he obtained ketamine from Sangha, have already pleaded guilty to charges they faced.


Authorities said Plasencia bought ketamine from Chavez, and in text messages to Chavez discussing the amount to charge Perry for the drug wrote: “I wonder how much this moron will pay”.
Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry and supplied vials that were injected by the assistant, according to court documents.
Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 from “acute effects” of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub, according to a December 2023 autopsy report.
The actor had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends.
Matt Binninger, Chavez’s lawyer, told reporters in August that his client was “doing everything in his power to cooperate, to help in this situation”.
“He’s incredibly remorseful,” Binninger said.
The lawyer added that Chavez’s regret stemmed not from Perry’s celebrity but from the fact that “someone who was trying to seek treatment died”.


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Fame and celebrity

Doctor pleads guilty in death of Friends star Matthew Perry

Matt Perry speaks onstage during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California, in January 2017. Photo: TNS

Mark Chavez (wearing glasses), a doctor accused of supplying ketamine to Friends actor Matthew Perry before his death, arrives at federal court  in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Friends star Matthew Perry’s tragic last words revealed: ‘Shoot me up with a big one’

Matthew Perry attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2022 at The West Hollywood EDITION on Nov. 17, 2022, in West Hollywood. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images/TNS)

An image from the indictment against several people charged in Matthew Perry’s death shows alleged evidence discovered in the case. Photo: US District Court Central District of California via AFP

5 charged in Friends star Matthew Perry’s death, including his assistant and 2 doctors

Actor Matthew Perry attends an awards event in Hollywood in March  2003. Photo: AFP

Friends star Matthew Perry died of ‘acute effects of ketamine’, coroner says

Matthew Perry arrives at a movie premiere in Los Angeles in April 2015. Photo: AP

(From left) David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc of Friends appear in the photo room at the 54th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2022. Photo: Reuters

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Mark Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison for illegally distributing the drug ketamine


Mark Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison for illegally distributing the drug ketamine.
