A California doctor who sold ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, star of the television series "Friends," has been sentenced to eight months of house arrest.
He is the second person convicted in the death of an actor.
Dr. Mark Chavez is one of five people, including another doctor and a drug dealer known as the "Ketamine Queen," who have pleaded guilty to charges related to the death of Matthew Perry.
Perry was found dead in 2023 in his Los Angeles home., and it was determined that he died from a ketamine overdose.
He was 54 years old.
A San Diego doctor admitted to obtaining ketamine from his clinic and a wholesale distributor using a fake prescription and selling it to another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, who administered the drug to Perry.
Placencia was earlier sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The multi-year investigation into Perry's death examined how the Emmy-winning actor obtained ketamine through an underground drug trafficking network in Hollywood.
Ketamine is a surgical anesthetic and is used as a treatment for depression, anxiety, and pain.
Perry, who struggled with drug addiction and depression, was prescribed the drug as part of his treatment, but he soon began asking for additional doses.
This eventually led him to a drug trafficking ring that ensnared two doctors, Perry's live-in assistant, a man named Eric Fleming, and American-British citizen Jaswin Sanga, a dealer known as the 'Ketamine Queen'.
Sentences for the three are expected in the coming months.
An autopsy determined that Perry had high concentrations of ketamine in his blood and that the "acute effects" of the substance killed him.
Prosecutors said Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry's personal assistant, worked with Chavez and Plasencia to provide the actor with more than $50.000 worth of ketamine in the weeks before the actor's death.
In the plea agreement, Chavez said he did obtain ketamine from both his former clinic and a wholesale distributor via a fake prescription.
He filed a fake prescription for 30 ketamine lozenges in the name of a former patient - without her knowledge or consent - to sell to Plasencia and give to Perry.
He admitted to selling 22 vials of liquid ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges to Plasencia, according to a plea agreement from October 2024.
The transaction was part of a larger scheme by Chavez and Plasencia who agreed to profit from Perry's addiction.
They mocked the actor in a text message exchange.
"I wonder how much this jerk will pay," Plasencia wrote to Chavez.
Chavez faced up to 10 years in prison.
As part of an October 2024 plea agreement, he surrendered his medical license and passport.
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