Matthew Perry Ketamine Doctor Sidesteps Prison, Sentenced to Home Confinement

Disgraced California doctor Mark Chavez was sentenced to eight months of home detention, three years of supervised release, and 300 hours of community service Tuesday for his role in the 2023 ketamine overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry.

Chavez, 55, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine after stating through his lawyer that he was “incredibly remorseful.” Probation officials recommended a sentence of one year in prison, whereas federal prosecutors asked for only six months of home confinement, citing the fact Chavez “immediately cooperated” with the criminal case.

Asked if he wanted to address the court before learning his fate, Chavez walked to the podium and reflected on his decades-long career and the medical license he surrendered amid the criminal prosecution. “I had the wonderful opportunity to help a lot of people, but I also had the experience of dealing with a lot of tragedy and death and having to tell [family members] that a loved one had died. So, I take this very seriously,” Chavez told the U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. “I just want to say that my heart goes out to the Perry family.”

Judge Garnett said she was concerned about the disparity between the home detention sought by prosecutors and the 30-month prison sentence she handed down two weeks ago to Chavez’s co-conspirator Salvador Plasencia, 44, the doctor who obtained at least 22 vials of liquid ketamine from Chavez and sold them to Perry in 2023 at a sizable markup. The judge said that of the five defendants charged with illegally distributing ketamine to Perry before the sitcom star was found floating face-down in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023, Chavez’s conduct appeared most aligned with Plasencia’s.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello defended his request for the lighter sentence, arguing the evidence showed that Chavez “chided” Plasencia when he heard Plasencia had injected Perry with ketamine in a car parked outside the Long Beach Aquarium. The prosecutor said Chavez also “accepted responsibility and agreed to cooperate” right away, whereas Plasencia “created fraudulent documents” to cover his tracks.
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“At the very least, you helped Mr. Perry stay on the road to his tragic ending by continuing to feed his addiction,” the judge told Chavez Tuesday. Still, she noted Chavez “stepped away” from providing ketamine to Plasencia after Perry suffered a spike in blood pressure on Oct. 21, 2023, while receiving a shot of ketamine from Plasencia.

“After Perry froze up, you stood back. You were less willing than Mr. Plasencia to keep going forward,” the judge said. “Mr. Plasencia kept asking after that date if [Perry] wanted to purchase more. You stepped away. I credit that.” The judge also noted that the ketamine in Perry’s system when the 54-year-old actor died did not come from the doctors.

As part of his plea deal, Chavez agreed to help investigators as they pursued cases against Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha, a woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen.” When federal officials first unsealed their 18-count indictment last year, they called Plasencia and Sangha, 42, the “two lead defendants.” They said Chavez, along with Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 60, and Erik Fleming, 56, had already agreed to plea deals. Fleming was described as a local man who acted as a go-between for Sangha in her sales to Perry.

Sangha eventually struck a plea deal in August, admitting she sold the ketamine that led to Perry’s death. She admitted selling 25 vials of liquid ketamine to Perry on Oct. 14, 2023, and another 25 vials 10 days later. On the day Perry died, Iwamasa gave the actor three injections of the ketamine supplied by Sangha, prosecutors said. An autopsy determined Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine.
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Prosecutors said Chavez, formerly a licensed San Diego physician, supplied the ketamine, syringes, and gloves that Plasencia used to inject Perry at his home during their first meeting on Sept. 30, 2023. Plasencia later texted Chavez that the visit was “like a bad movie.” Prosecutors said Chavez later submitted a fraudulent order form, claiming he still worked for his former company, Dreamscape Ketamine, to maintain a steady stream of ketamine to sell to Perry.

Perry’s family was notably absent from Chavez’s sentencing on Tuesday after attending the sentencing hearing for Plasencia and delivering emotional victim impact statements. Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, addressed Plasencia directly on Dec. 3.

“There has been a terrible hole cut into our family,” she said. “You took an oath that doctors take. It’s old, it has worked for a long time, but it gets abused every now and then. You pushed it aside,” she said.

Perry’s mom described her son as “one of the strongest men I have ever known,” recalling how he survived serious health issues, including a burst colon. “I used to think he couldn’t die, that he wasn’t supposed to die. He would rise out of the most critical situations,” she said. Perry relied on doctors to uphold their Hippocratic Oaths to do no harm, she said, and Plasencia violated that oath.

She then referenced the texts Plasencia sent to Chavez the day he first met Perry. “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Let’s find out,” the texts from Sept. 30, 2024, read.
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“This is my boy. I knew how addicted he was, year after year. And he survived it all just to be called a moron? There was nothing moronic about that man. He even knew how to be a successful drug addict,” she said. “I’m sorry I had to meet you under these circumstances, but this was a bad thing you did.”

Fleming is the next to be sentenced in the case, with his hearing scheduled for Jan. 7. Iwamasa has his sentencing set for Jan. 14, while Sangha is set to learn her fate on Feb. 25.