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Second doctor sentenced in Matthew Perry overdose case

A man with light-tone skin has clear-framed glasses and a gray facial hair.
Matthew Perry in 2022.
(
Phillip Faraone
/
Getty Images
)

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Topline:

A second doctor convicted in the drug-overdose death of Friends actor Matthew Perry was sentenced Tuesday to eight months of house arrest.

San Diego physician Mark Chavez also was ordered to complete 300 hours of community service.

The context: Chavez is among five people charged in Perry’s death, including Salvador Plasencia, who recently was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Chavez’s lawyer did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

How was Chavez involved? Chavez pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. According to prosecutors, Plasencia reached out to Chavez to obtain the drug to sell to Perry. Chavez illegally got his hands on ketamine vials and lozenges from his clinic and a drug distributor to sell to the actor.

What’s next? Jasveen Sangha, a North Hollywood drug dealer known as “Ketamine Queen,” pleaded guilty in September to supplying the Friends actor with the drugs. Sangha faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in federal prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 25. The other two people involved, including Perry’s personal assistant, are scheduled for sentencing early next year.

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