2024-10-02 22:13:26
Doctor Mark Chavez, suspected of being linked to the ketamine overdose death of Matthew Perry, leaving a court in Los Angeles, October 2, 2024. PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
A Los Angeles doctor, Mark Chavez, suspected of being linked to the ketamine overdose death of Matthew Perry, the star of the series “Friends”, pleaded guilty on Wednesday October 2 in a California court. The man, aged 54, admitted to having illegally contributed to supplying ketamine to the actor, who played Chandler in the cult series. This professional, who was banned from practicing medicine, thus avoids a trial and risks up to ten years of imprisonment, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. His sentencing will take place on April 2, 2025. Doctor Chavez is only one of five suspects involved in the actor’s death, according to American justice.
The death of Matthew Perry, found unconscious in his jacuzzi in October 2023, shocked “Friends” fans and sparked a shower of tributes in Hollywood. The actor had spoken publicly about his addiction issues, and he took ketamine supervised as part of therapy sessions for depression. But this legal anesthetic is sometimes diverted for stimulating or euphoric purposes, and it fell back into addiction in the fall of 2023, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. This relapse then pushed him into the clutches of doctors “unscrupulous”according to authorities.
According to the investigation, another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, had a much larger role in fueling Mr. Perry’s addiction. It was he who organized “exploitation” of the ill actor, according to Anne Milgram of the DEA, the federal drug agency.
“I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay”wrote Doctor Plasencia in September 2023, in an SMS unearthed by the investigation. After Mr. Perry’s death, he “falsified medical records” to try to legitimize his action, according to the prosecution. Mr. Plasencia is scheduled to go to trial in March and has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 120 years in prison.
Read the obituary: Article reserved for our subscribers With the death of Matthew Perry, “Friends” loses its Chandler Bing
Add to your selections
Long-standing addictions
The vials of ketamine cost the doctors involved around twelve dollars, but were resold « 2 000 dollars » to the actor. The other defendant at the center of the case is Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the “queen of ketamine”. This 41-year-old British-American sold the bottle of ketamine that killed the actor, and faces life imprisonment. She is also scheduled to go to trial in March and has pleaded not guilty. The investigation revealed that one of his clients had already died of a ketamine overdose in 2019. Matthew Perry’s personal assistant and an intermediary are also being prosecuted.
A true cultural phenomenon, the series “Friends”, broadcast between 1994 and 2004, left its mark on an entire generation of viewers, recounting the adventures of a group of happy friends in New York. But behind the scenes, Matthew Perry has long hidden a malaise behind his jovial character of Chandler. He struggled for a long time with his addiction to drugs and alcohol. In his memoirs published in 2022, he confided having followed 65 withdrawal sessions, spending more than nine million dollars.
He had also undergone several surgical operations linked to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon operation in 2018, going so far as to state: “I should be dead.” »
During a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting to having suffered from severe anxiety “every evening” during the filming of “Friends”.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Matthew Perry, elegy for a sad clown
Add to your selections
Reuse this content
1727909790
#Doctor #linked #death #Friends #star #Matthew #Perry #pleads #guilty
