Mark Chavez, one of the two doctors implicated in the death of actor Matthew Perry , has accepted a plea deal that could see him sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, according to the Associated Press . Chavez appeared in the Roybal Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine after he sold the drug to Dr. Salvador Placensia, who allegedly provided it to Perry’s longtime assistant, Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Iwamasa.
Iwamasa had confessed earlier to administering the fatal dose of ketamine to the Friends star on October 28, 2023. ALSO READ| Matthew Perry doctor ordered not to practice medicine ahead of guilty plea Perry had been undergoing ketamine therapy for years to manage his depression, a treatment he described in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, as being akin to “being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel.” However, it was the “acute effects of ketamine use” that ultimately led to Perry’s tragic drowning, according to authorities.
Doctor charged in Matthew Perry case released on $50k bond Following Chavez's guilty plea, US Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth ruled that he could remain free on a $50,000 unsecured bond, with several conditions attached. One of the key conditions is that Chavez must surrender his passport and his medical license. Chavez’s attorney, Matt Binninger, told the press, “He is doing everything in his power to cooperate, to help in thi.