San Diego doctor charged in Matthew Perry’s death pleads guilty

Video above: Zara Barker reports on the five charged in connection to Matthew Perry’s death.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A San Diego doctor plead guilty in federal court Wednesday to “conspiring to distribute ketamine” in connection to the fatal overdose of actor Matthew Perry.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors back in August. Now that has as followed through with that guilty plea, Chavez marks the third person involved in this case to do so. By making this plea, the San Diego doctor will be offered lesser chargers in exchange for his cooperation.

This comes as prosecutors go after two others they believe are more responsible for Perry’s death: another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, and accused drug dealer Jasveen Sangha who’s been pinned as as “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles.

Prosecutors allege that Chavez met up with Plasencia in Orange County to provide him with doses of ketamine, which Perry had been been using through his regular doctor as a treatment for depression. Those doses were obtained through a fraudulent prescription.

The prosecutors allege the “Friends” star, who had publicly struggled with substance abuse, was taken advantage of by the five defendants for financial gain.

As for Chavez, a doctor who was based in La Jolla, he had his license to practice medicine suspended by the state medical board in August. He’s currently prohibited from practicing medicine pending the case’s conclusion. If it’s determined that his involvement violated the Medical Practice Act, the local doctor will have his license revoked.

Additionally, Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison under his plea agreement.

Perry died on Oct. 28 in what first appeared to be an apparent drowning at his home. It was later determined he had died from acute effects of ketamine.

The Associated Press, along with FOX 5’s Zara Barker and Danielle Dawson, contributed to this report.

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