Matthew Perry’s doctor pleads guilty to his part in Friends actor’s death

Matthew Perry died in October last year - now one of five people charged in relation to his death has pleaded guilty. Photo / Getty Images

California doctor Mark Chavez has pleaded guilty to illegally distributing ketamine to Friends actor Matthew Perry, who died in October last year.

Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub at his home in Los Angeles after a drug overdose.

Chavez formally pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday local time, which the judge accepted. He is still facing up to a decade in prison and will be sentenced on April 2 next year.

Mark Chavez has pleaded guilty for his role in Matthew Perry's overdose death. Photo / Getty Images

Before the hearing, the doctor agreed to hand over his passport to authorities and to stop practising medicine.

Chavez is understood to have sold ketamine lozenges to another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, who is accused of passing them on to the Friends actor.

Plasencia allegedly sent Chavez a text saying, “I wonder how much this moron will pay”, in reference to Perry.

Chavez and two others allegedly involved have been offered lesser charges if they cooperate with authorities, who are pursuing two people they say are more responsible for Perry’s overdose and death – a third doctor and a dealer dubbed the “ketamine queen” of LA.

An autopsy ruled Perry's death was due to the acute effects of ketamine and drowning. Photo / Getty Images

Chavez’s lawyer Matthew Binninger said the doctor is “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here”.

Perry was found unresponsive in his hot tub on October 28, 2023. An autopsy ruled his death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine and drowning. A criminal investigation into how he acquired the drugs was launched last December.

In August this year, five people were charged following his death: doctors Plasencia and Chavez, Perry’s personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and his acquaintance Erik Fleming. They were all charged with conspiring to distribute ketamine and face sentences from 10 years to life in jail.

At the time, the actor’s stepfather Keith Morrison said he hoped “unscrupulous suppliers of dangerous drugs will get the message”.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said: “We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously.

“We look forward to justice taking its course and we’re grateful for the exceptional work of the multiple agencies whose agents investigated Matthew’s death.

“We’re hoping unscrupulous suppliers of dangerous drugs will get the message.”