Doctor charged in Matthew Perry case ‘incredibly remorseful’ for role in actor’s death: Lawyer
The lawyer for one of the two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s ketamine death said his client feels “incredibly remorseful” for the role the medical professional played in the actor’s death as he appeared in court Friday.
Dr. Mark Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and has signed a plea agreement, according to federal prosecutors. He appeared in Los Angeles federal court Friday afternoon for his arraignment in the case. Chavez answered the judge’s questions, saying he understood the case against him.
“He is trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here,” Matthew Binninger, Chavez’s attorney, told reporters following the arraignment. “He is doing everything in his power to cooperate, to help in this situation, and he’s incredibly remorseful.”
Binninger told reporters before the court appearance Friday that Chavez fully accepts responsibility for his role in the death of Perry.
“He is trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here,” Matthew Binninger, Chavez’s attorney, told reporters following the arraignment. “He is doing everything in his power to cooperate, to help in this situation, and he’s incredibly remorseful.”
Binninger told reporters before the court appearance Friday that Chavez fully accepts responsibility for his role in the death of Perry.
Chavez also agreed, as part of the deal, to immediately give up his medical license. He formally pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Friday, though a change of plea proceeding will be scheduled for a later date, at which point he will plead guilty, according to Binninger. The lawyer said he expects the hearing to occur sometime in October.
Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Chavez is one of five people facing federal charges in the wake of Perry’s death from a ketamine overdose at his home on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. The “Friends” actor was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
The Department of Justice claims Chavez was part of an underground criminal network that used Perry as a personal piggy bank by illegally selling him ketamine.
Chavez, 54, has admitted to selling ketamine to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a licensed medical doctor he has known for at least 20 years, with the understanding it would be sold to Perry, who was struggling with a ketamine addiction, according to prosecutors.
Plasencia is a lead defendant in the case, along with Jasveen Sangha, 41, a woman allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen” who is accused of selling Perry the batch of ketamine that killed him, the DOJ said. Both pleaded not guilty following their arrest earlier this month.
Also charged are Eric Fleming, 54, who admitted in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, and Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day Perry died, the DOJ said. Both have pleaded guilty to their respective charges and have signed plea agreements that have been entered, prosecutors said. They are awaiting sentencing.
According to a plea agreement filed on Aug. 15 in Chavez’s case, Plasencia allegedly called Chavez on Sept. 30, 2023, about obtaining ketamine for Perry, who was “willing to pay a premium.” Chavez confirmed he did — even texting a picture of ketamine lozenges — and that he was willing to transfer the ketamine in exchange for money, according to the plea agreement.
Chavez had previously been affiliated with a San Diego ketamine infusion clinic. Upon parting ways in July 2023 over a dispute with his business partner, Chavez retrieved all prescription drugs — including ketamine — because his partner was not a medical doctor, according to the plea agreement. Chavez also took 30 ketamine lozenges that he had obtained after submitting a fraudulent prescription without a patient’s knowledge on July 17, 2023, according to the plea agreement.
On Sept. 13, 2023, Chavez legally transferred some of the ketamine he seized from the clinic to a medical facility in San Diego, but kept possession of at least 12 vials of ketamine and the ketamine lozenges, according to the plea agreement.
Chavez and Plasencia met three times in September and October 2023 as part of the alleged scheme, according to the plea agreement. Chavez admitted to transferring at least 22 vials of liquid ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges, all of which he understood would be used by Perry, according to the plea agreement.
After their first exchange on Sept. 30, 2023, Plasencia allegedly texted Chavez that his subsequent meeting with Perry was “like a bad movie,” according to the plea agreement.
After their second meeting, on Oct. 4, 2023, Chavez worked to get more ketamine to keep doing business with Perry, according to the plea agreement. Chavez admitted in the plea agreement to submitting false statements on a Drug Enforcement Administration license authorization form in order to obtain more ketamine from a wholesale distributor of controlled substances.
Following their third meeting, on Oct. 10, 2023, Chavez learned Plasencia had allegedly dosed Perry in a car parked in a public parking lot near an aquarium in Long Beach, according to the plea agreement. Chavez “reprimanded” the other doctor “for ‘dosing people’ in cars, and in a public place where children are present,” the plea agreement stated.
Two days later, on Oct. 12, 2023, Chavez learned the California Medical Board was investigating an allegation that he had improperly taken ketamine from his former ketamine clinic, according to the plea agreement. At that point, Chavez told Plasencia that he would no longer be able to obtain additional ketamine to sell to Perry, according to the plea agreement.
The DEA interviewed Chavez on Oct. 19, 2023, about the allegation, during which he denied still being in possession of the liquid ketamine taken from the clinic, according to the plea agreement. He admitted to the fraudulent prescription of ketamine lozenges but claimed he had thrown them out after they had melted inside of his vehicle, according to the plea agreement.
“At all relevant times during the interview, defendant Chavez concealed from investigators that he had, in fact, transferred ketamine to co-conspirator Plasencia,” the plea agreement stated.
After Perry was found dead on Oct. 28, 2023, Chavez called Plasencia to discuss whether he was “concerned about” the actor’s death, according to the plea agreement.
“Co-conspirator Plasencia indicated that he was not worried because he had not seen [Perry] for a couple of weeks,” the plea agreement stated.
During Plasencia’s arraignment, the judge mandated that a sign be posted in the clinic alerting all patients of the ongoing federal case, and that patients must sign a form each time consenting that they are aware. The next hearing in his case has been scheduled for Sept. 4.
His attorney, Stefan Sacks, told ABC News following Plasencia’s arraignment that a plea deal is possible in the case. He said he plans to dispute the illegality of the services prosecutors said Plasencia provided, which Sacks likened to “concierge medicine.”
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