Doctor pleads guilty in death of Friends star Matthew Perry

One of the doctors among the five people charged in the overdose death of Matthew Perry has pleaded guilty.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, has accepted a guilty plea of one charge of illegally distributing ketamine to the Friends star.

He appeared at the US District Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday (2 October) and is the third person out of the five to plead guilty.

US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett has scheduled a sentence hearing for April 2 2025.

Chavez is now free on a $50,000 (£37,600) bond after Matt Binninger, his attorney, said back in August: "He’s incredibly remorseful."

Perry died from 'acute effects of ketamine', aged 54, after he was found 'unconscious in a stand-alone Jacuzzi' at his Los Angeles home on 28 October.

The actor reportedly used ketamine as a treatment for depression and anxiety.

A couple of months ago, police said there had been a 'broad underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr Perry and others'.

Salvador Plasencia, a doctor from Santa Monica, has been accused of using the actor's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa to distribute ketamine from September to October last year.

Plasencia will stand trial alongside alleged drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, known as 'the ketamine queen', next March.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, has accepted a guilty plea (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

One of the other defendants, charged separately, is Erik Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, who admitted that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, according to court documents.

Perry’s live-in personal Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake, conspired with Sangha, Fleming, and Plasencia to illegally obtain ketamine and distribute it to the actor.

He plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.

The group distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Perry in exchange for $55,000 (£42,800) in cash, authorities said.

Attorney Martin Estrada said at a press conference in August: "These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves.

"They knew what they were doing was wrong, they knew what they were doing, was risking great danger to mister Perry, but they did it anyways.

Matthew Perry died on 28 October aged 54 (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for GQ)

"In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his wellbeing."

He continued: "As many of you know, Mr Perry struggled with addiction in the past. Now, on many occasions he sought help for his addiction issues.

"The investigation revealed that in the fall of 2023, Mr Perry fell back into addiction, and these defendants took advantage to profit for themselves.

"These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr Perry than caring for his well-being.

"Drug dealers selling dangerous substances are gambling with other people’s lives over greed. This case, along with many other prosecutions of drug dealers who cause death, sends a clear message that we will hold drug dealers accountable for the deaths they cause."