Doctor pleads guilty in Matthew Perry death

Friends' star died last year from drug overdose

LOS ANGELES:

One of two doctors charged in connection with the drug overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry pleaded guilty in a US court on Wednesday.

Mark Chavez, 54, faces up to 10 years in prison after admitting to conspiring to distribute ketamine in the weeks before the actor was found dead in the pool of his Los Angeles home.

Appearing before US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in a Los Angeles court, the bespectacled Chavez answered a series of questions before entering his plea of "Guilty, your honour."

Perry's lengthy struggles with substance addiction were well-documented, but his death in October 2023 sent shockwaves through the global legions of Friends fans.

A criminal investigation was launched soon after an autopsy discovered the actor had high levels of ketamine - an anesthetic - in his system. Two others caught in the dragnet - a live-in assistant and an acquaintance - have already pleaded guilty to their charges.

Another doctor - Salvador Plasencia - allegedly bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the desperate star at hugely inflated prices, musing "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

Jasveen Sangha, the alleged "Ketamine Queen" who supplied drugs to high-end clients and celebrities, is charged with selling Perry the dose that killed him. Both Plasencia and Sangha face one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, as well as a raft of other charges, which they have denied.

Their trials have been set for March, and both face lengthy prison terms if found guilty.

Chavez admitted in his plea agreement to selling ketamine to Plasencia, including doses that he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic.

He was released on $50,000 bail on Wednesday and ordered not to practice medicine. He is expected to be sentenced in April.

Perry played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994 to 2004 and talked openly of his decades-long battles with addiction. He had been taking ketamine, a controlled drug, as part of supervised therapy. AFP