A San Diego doctor charged in connection with Friends star Matthew Perry ‘s death from a drug overdose has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine.
Mark Chavez, 54, entered the plea Wednesday morning in Los Angeles federal court, according to the Associated Press . He is the third of five defendants charged in the case to reach a plea deal with prosecutors and faces up to 10 years behind bars. His sentencing is scheduled for April 2, 2025.
Chavez previously turned over his passport and surrendered his medical license, and is currently free after posting a $50,000 bond. Matthew Perry in 2016. David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28 and pronounced dead at the scene. He was 54. At the time, authorities said there was no indication of foul play . In December, an autopsy report revealed that Perry’s death was caused by "the acute effects of ketamine," and that drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine (a medication used to treat opioid use disorder) were also contributing factors.
The autopsy report also noted that Perry had been receiving ketamine-infusion treatment around the time of his death, but because ketamine has a short half-life, the traces of the substance in his system couldn’t have been from those treatment sessions.
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Federal prosecutors at Wednesday’s hearing asserted that Chavez, who operated a ketamine clinic, sold ketamine lozenges to another individual charged in the Perry case, Dr. Salvador Plasencia. Plasencia, known as "Dr. P," allegedly distributed the lozenges to Perry via two more Perry associates under indictment: Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of the actor’s, and Kenneth Iwamasa, his assistant.
Iwamasa pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Fleming pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He faces up to […]
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