Doctor charged in Matthew Perry’s death pleads guilty

There’s been a significant development in a criminal trial associated with the death of beloved Friends star Matthew Perry.

One of the doctors accused of playing a role in Matthew Perry’s death pleaded guilty to a ketamine charge in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday — in exchange for co-operating with federal authorities.

Dr Mark Chavez, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anaesthetic ketamine that contributed to the Friends actor’s fatal overdose last October, reports the New York Post.

Chavez, of San Diego, faces up to 10 years in prison, though he is likely to get a lighter penalty under the federal sentencing guidelines. He is free on bond until sentencing April 2 and has turned over his passport and medical license.

Chavez is among three people co-operating against other defendants in the case, including the drug dealer and so-called “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, who allegedly sold Perry the lethal dose of the substance, and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who allegedly hawked the drug to the actor in the month leading up to his death.

Matthew Perry died last October. Picture: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Dr Mark Chavez has pleaded guilty to charges in connection to his death. Picture: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

Chavez, in his plea agreement, copped to submitting fraudulent prescriptions to his former clinic and to wholesale distributors in order to obtain the powerful anaesthetic.

Perry had been receiving off-label doses of ketamine through his regular doctor to help treat depression but the former prime time star began looking for additional doses from Plasencia — who asked Chavez to help him get the drug for Perry.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia callously asked Chavez in a text.

Perry found fame as Chandler in Friends. Picture: NBC

The two physicians met halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego that same day, exchanging at least four vials of the drug.

Perry paid Plasencia US$4,500 (A$5845) for the doses, prompting Plasencia to ask Chavez to keep the supply coming so the pair of doctors could be Perry’s “go-to.”

Perry’s personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and acquaintance Erik Fleming are also working with the feds in the case against Sangha and Plasencia. Fleming is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23 and Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6.

Perry — who rose to fame playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom — struggled with drug addiction going all the way back to his time on the show which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 through 2004.

Plasencia and Sangha have both pleaded not guilty.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Doctor charged in Matthew Perry’s death pleads guilty