LOS ANGELES -- One of two doctors charged in the investigation of the death of Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in a federal court in Los Angeles to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.Dr.
Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star’s fatal overdose last year.Prosecutors offered lesser charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their cooperation as they go after two targets they deem more responsible for the overdose death: another doctor and an alleged dealer that they say was known as “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles.Chavez is free on bond after turning over his passport and surrendering his medical license, among other conditions.His lawyer Matthew Binninger said after Chavez's first court appearance on Aug.30 that he is “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”Also working with federal prosecutors are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.The three are helping prosecutors in their prosecution of Dr.
Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine.Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.After a guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct.28.
The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death.The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment f...