Another doctor linked to the death of Matthew Perry has been convicted.
A California doctor was ordered to serve eight months of home confinement on Tuesday, December 16, for illegally supplying ketamine to the Friends star, whose fatal overdose in 2023 shocked the world.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a former San Diego doctor, pleaded guilty in October to felony conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He handed in his medical license the following month. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service.
As part of his plea deal, Chavez admitted that he sold ketamine to another doctor, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44. Plasencia then supplied the drug to Perry, although prosecutors said Chavez did not provide him with the specific dose that ultimately killed the actor.
Plasencia was sentenced earlier this month to two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of illegal drug distribution. He and Chavez are the first two of five defendants sentenced in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death.
Three others are still awaiting sentencing: Jasveen Sangha, 42, a trafficker known as the “Ketamine Queen”; middleman Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 60. Sangha admitted to giving the fatal dose, while Iwamasa admitted to injecting Perry and then discovering him face down in his hot tub on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy concluded that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine, which caused him to lose consciousness and drown. The actor, 54, had long been open about his struggle with addiction, including during his years as Chandler Bing on Friends.
Federal officials said Perry initially received ketamine legally to treat depression and anxiety, but then turned to illicit sources after clinics refused to increase his dosage, accusing multiple providers of exploiting his dependence for profit.
