Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
News

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
)

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

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.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today