A doctor criminally charged in connection with the death of Matthew Perry pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Mark Chavez agreed to surrender his medical license after he was charged in connection with the actor’s death in August, along with four other defendants, including another doctor who federal prosecutors say conspired with him to give Perry an illegal, unethical and dangerous amount of ketamine. last month of his life.
Chavez earlier agreed to plead guilty. On Wednesday, he entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The other people charged in Perry’s death include the LA doctor accused of conspiring with Chavez, Salvador Plasencia, Jasveen Sangha – an alleged North Hollywood drug dealer known by prosecutors as the “Ketamine Queen” – Perry’s former live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Fleming, a Hawthorne man who federal authorities have described as a street dealer who acted as a middleman.
In a settlement, Chavez admitted to using ketamine and other prescription drugs from a ketamine infusion clinic in San Diego where he worked. He also admitted to forging a prescription to supply Perry with the drug, using a patient’s name to get the prescription filled without that person’s consent or even knowledge, and making false statements to a ketamine wholesaler so that he could deliver more of it to Perry.
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Nine days before Perry died, on Oct. 19, 2023, Chavez was interviewed by investigators from the Medical Board of California and the US Drug Enforcement Agency, federal prosecutors said. When he spoke to them, he concealed the fact that he had distributed ketamine to Plasencia, who then allegedly provided the drug to Perry, prosecutors said.
The plea agreement states that Chavez is aware that the federal charge to which he agrees to plead guilty, conspiracy to distribute ketamine, carries a maximum prison sentence of ten years, three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine – or twice the gross amount. profit or gross loss due to violation, whichever is greater – as well as a mandatory assessment of $100.
On August 30, Chavez appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, but he did not enter a plea at the time. He had previously pleaded guilty for his role in Perry’s death.
While he avoided questions from reporters as he entered court in August, his attorney, Matthew Binninger, spoke outside the courthouse afterward.
“He is incredibly remorseful for what happened — not just because it happened to Matthew Perry, but because it happened to a patient,” Binninger said. “He is trying to do everything in his power to right the wrongs that have happened here.”
Just days before Chavez appeared in court, his doctor’s license was suspended and he was barred from practicing, according to records from the Medical Board of California.
