Matthew Perry's ketamine doctor avoids jail and says he's driving Uber

One of the doctors caught up in the criminal fallout surrounding Matthew Perry’s ketamine death has narrowly avoided prison time.

Mark Chavez — the second of two physicians convicted in connection with the Friends star’s 2023 overdose — was sentenced Tuesday to eight months of home confinement, despite facing the possibility of a decade behind bars.

He pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine after admitting he sold fraudulently obtained ketamine to fellow doctor Salvador Plasencia. 

Prosecutors say the ketamine was sold to Perry in the weeks before his fatal overdose, and while neither doctor supplied the lethal dose, both knew of his substance abuse history and that it would be used without medical supervision. 

Chavez’s legal team argued in court filings earlier this month that the disgraced physician had already been punished enough, pointing to the collapse of his career, finances, and public standing.

Stripped of his medical license and reputation, Chavez is now scraping by as a ride-share driver, his lawyers said, urging the court to credit him with time already served. 

'He now supports himself through ride-share driving, earns modest income, and has no remaining assets after the loss of his career, his reputation, and his financial stability,' defense attorneys wrote in papers dated Dec. 3.

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Earlier this month, Plasencia received a far harsher punishment, sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine.

Chilling text messages between the two doctors played a major role in the case.

In one exchange discussing how much to charge Perry, Plasencia wrote to Chavez, 'I wonder how much this moron will pay.'

That message was later cited in a powerful victim impact statement submitted to the court by Perry’s stepfather, Keith Morrison.

He wrote, 'This doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son…and crow, as he did so, with that revealing question: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay. Let’s find out.’”

As previously reported, Perry overdosed on ketamine and drowned in his hot tub in 2023. 

He was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28, and the medical examiner later ruled ketamine intoxication as the primary cause of death.

At the time, the actor had been receiving ketamine legally through his regular physician as an off-label treatment for depression — a practice that has become increasingly common. 

Perry began seeking larger amounts of ketamine than his regular doctor was willing to provide. 

About a month before his death, he connected with Plasencia, who then enlisted Chavez to get the drug for him.

'I wonder how much this moron will pay,' Plasencia texted Chavez. 

That same day, the two met in Costa Mesa, roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.

After Plasencia sold the drugs to Perry for $4,500, he asked Chavez if he could continue supplying them, hoping to make ketamine Perry’s 'go-to.'

Meanwhile, sentencing is still pending for Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, alleged drug dealer Erik Fleming, and the woman dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen,' Jasveen Sangha, all of whom are expected to face judgment in the coming weeks.