One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death is set to appear Friday in a federal court in Los Angeles, where he is expected to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this month and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star’s fatal overdose last year.
Chavez agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they pursue others, including the doctor Chavez worked with to sell ketamine to Perry. Also working with the U.S.
Attorney's Office are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman. The three are helping prosecutors as they go after their main targets: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say is a dealer who sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine.
Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription. After a guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
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