A doctor from San Diego has pleaded guilty to one felony count in regard to the death of actor Matthew Perry.
On Wednesday, Dr. Mark Chavez pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. Perry took the drug and died recently.
On Wednesday, Chavez admitted that he gave 22 vials of ketamine, which had 5 milliliters each in them, as well as nine ketamine lozenges to Dr. Salvador Plascenia. Those drugs eventually were sold to Perry, The Associated Press reported this.
In August, Chavez was originally charged by police for his role in Perry’s death, along with four other people. However, at the time, he wasn’t placed in custody.
The judge in Los Angeles who is overseeing the case ruled on Wednesday that Chavez can remain free as part of his bond until he is sentenced. That sentencing isn’t scheduled until April 2.
As part of his guilty plea, Chavez surrendered his medical license and also turned over his passport.
Speaking outside of the courthouse to reporters, Matthew Binninger, the lawyer for Chavez, said:
“Mark entered his plea of guilty and that’s now public record. You accept responsibility and then you set sentencing.”
During the plea hearing, the judge presiding over the case, Sherilyn Peace Garnett, clarified that she wasn’t bound by the agreement or plea deal that the prosecution offered to Chavez. As a result, she could still end up sentencing the former doctor to the maximum allowable sentence per state law, which is 10 years in jail.
That being said, he’s also likely to receive a sentence that’s far less than because of the fact that he’s cooperating with prosecutors in the case.
Chavez, who is 54 years old, reached a plea deal with the U.S. Attorneys Office and has agreed to cooperate with them as they pursue charges that are more serious against Plasencia.
Prosecutors allege that Plasencia was the one who directly gave the drugs to Perry.
The other main target for the prosecutor’s office is Jasmine Sangha. She was an alleged drug dealer who became known as being the “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles. She’s the person who’s alleged to have supplied the doses to Perry that ended up killing him.
Prosecutors also have the benefit of working with Perry’s former assistant, who has admitted to not only helping him obtain the ketamine but also inject it. Another one of Perry’s acquaintances, who has admitted to being a middleman and drug messenger, is also working with authorities.
Perry was discovered dead in late October of last year in his hot tub. A medical examiner found that the primary cause of his death was the drug ketamine.
Perry originally used the drug through his regular doctor in a legal way to treat depression. Perry tried to gain more ketamine from the doctor, but they wouldn’t give it to him.
So, about a month before he died, he sought out Plasencia, who turned to Chavez to get the drug.