Los Angeles doctor suspected of connection to ketamine overdose death of series star Matthew Perry Friends, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a California court.
Mark Chavez, 54, admitted to illegally helping to supply ketamine to the actor, who played Chandler in the cult series. This professional, who was banned from practicing medicine, thus avoids a trial and risks up to 10 years of imprisonment, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
His sentencing will take place on April 2, 2025. Doctor Chavez is only one of five suspects involved in the actor’s death, according to American justice.
The death of Matthew Perry, found unconscious in his jacuzzi in October 2023, shocked “Friends” fans and sparked a shower of tributes in Hollywood.
The actor had spoken publicly about his addiction issues.
He was taking ketamine supervised as part of therapy sessions for depression. But this legal anesthetic is sometimes diverted for stimulating or euphoric purposes, and it fell back into addiction in the fall of 2023, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
A relapse which pushed him into the clutches of “unscrupulous” doctors, according to the authorities.
“Exploitation” of the actor
According to the investigation, another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, had a much larger role in fueling Mr. Perry’s addiction.
It was he who organized the “exploitation” of the sick actor, according to Anne Milgram of the DEA, the federal anti-drug agency.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” wrote Doctor Plasencia in September 2023, in an SMS unearthed by the investigation. After Mr. Perry’s death, he “falsified medical records” to try to legitimize his action, according to the prosecution.
Mr. Plasencia is due to stand trial in March and has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 120 years in prison.
The vials of ketamine cost the doctors involved around $12, but were sold for “$2,000” to the actor.
The other defendant at the center of the case is Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the “queen of ketamine.”
This 41-year-old British-American sold the bottle of ketamine that killed the actor, and faces life imprisonment. She is also scheduled to go to trial in March and has pleaded not guilty.
The investigation revealed that one of his clients had already died of a ketamine overdose in 2019.
Matthew Perry’s personal assistant and an intermediary are also being prosecuted.
Long-term addiction problems
A true cultural phenomenon, the series broadcast between 1994 and 2004 left its mark on an entire generation of viewers, recounting the adventures of a group of happy friends in New York.
But behind the scenes, Matthew Perry has long hidden a malaise behind his jovial character of Chandler. He struggled for a long time with his addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In his memoirs published in 2022, he confided having followed 65 withdrawal sessions, spending more than nine million dollars.
He had also undergone several surgeries related to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon surgery in 2018, going so far as to say: “I should be dead. »
During a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting to having suffered from severe anxiety “every night” during the filming of Friends.