The legal aspect of the overdose death of Matthew Perry is moving forward. Los Angeles doctor suspected of connection to star’s death Friendspleaded guilty Wednesday in a California court.
Mark Chavez, 54, admitted to illegally helping to supply ketamine to the actor, who played Chandler in the cult series. This professional, who was banned from practicing medicine, thus avoids a trial and risks up to 10 years of imprisonment. His sentencing will take place on April 2, 2025.
“Unscrupulous” doctors
However, he is only one of five suspects involved in the death of the actor, found unconscious in his jacuzzi in October 2023. Matthew Perry, who had spoken publicly about his addiction problems, took ketamine in a supervised manner as part of therapy sessions against depression. But this legal anesthetic is sometimes diverted for stimulating or euphoric purposes, and it fell back into addiction in the fall of 2023, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. A relapse which pushed him into the clutches of “unscrupulous” doctors, according to the authorities.
According to the investigation, another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, played a particularly important role in fueling this addiction. It was he who organized the “exploitation” of the sick actor, according to Anne Milgram of the DEA, the federal anti-drug agency. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” he wrote in September 2023, in an SMS unearthed by the investigation. After the death of Matthew Perry, he “falsified medical records” to try to legitimize his action, according to the prosecution.
This doctor is due to be tried in March and has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 120 years in prison. The vials of ketamine cost the doctors involved around $12, but were sold for “$2,000” to the actor.
The “queen of ketamine” in the suspects
The other defendant at the center of the case is Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the “queen of ketamine.” This 41-year-old British-American sold the bottle of ketamine that killed the actor, and faces life imprisonment. She is also scheduled to go to trial in March and has pleaded not guilty. The investigation revealed that one of his clients had already died of a ketamine overdose in 2019.
Matthew Perry’s personal assistant and an intermediary are also being prosecuted.