A California physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, who supplied the popular sitcom star Matthew Perry with ketamine, has been sentenced to eight months of home detention followed by three years of supervised release. This marks the second conviction in the actor's tragic death, joining Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who was sentenced earlier this month to 30 months in prison.
Chavez is among a group of five individuals, including another doctor and a notorious dealer known as the "Ketamine Queen," who have pleaded guilty to drug-related charges stemming from Perry's 2023 death at his Los Angeles home. The San Diego-based physician admitted to obtaining ketamine from his former clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription and selling it to Plasencia, who supplied the dissociative anesthetic to Perry.
The multiyear federal investigation into Perry's death delved into how the Emmy-winning actor acquired ketamine through an underground drug network in Hollywood. Known for its use in surgical anesthesia, ketamine is also a treatment for depression, anxiety, and pain. Perry, who had struggled with drug addiction and depression, had been prescribed the drug as part of his treatment but soon began seeking more than what he was allotted. This led him to the drug ring that ensnared Chavez, Plasencia, Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, a man named Erik Fleming, and the American-British dual national Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen." The latter three are awaiting their sentencing in the coming months.
A post-mortem examination of Perry found a high concentration of ketamine in his blood and determined that "acute effects" of the substance were the cause of death. Prosecutors revealed that Iwamasa worked with Chavez and Plasencia to provide Perry with over $50,000 (£38,000) worth of ketamine in the weeks before his death.
In his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to obtaining ketamine from both his former clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription. He submitted a fraudulent prescription for 30 ketamine lozenges under a former patient's name – without her knowledge or consent – to sell to Plasencia for Perry's consumption. He confessed to selling 22 vials of liquid ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges to Plasencia, according to his October 2024 plea agreement.
The transaction was part of a larger scheme in which Chavez and Plasencia discussed exploiting Perry's addiction for financial gain by mocking him in their text exchanges. "I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote to Chavez. Chavez faced up to 10 years in federal prison but as part of his October 2024 plea deal, he surrendered his medical license and passport.
