Ketamine Doctor to Plead Guilty to Fueling Matthew Perry's Deadly Addiction After Release on $50K Bond

Mark Chavez, one of the doctors charged with fueling Matthew Perry's deadly ketamine addiction, is set to become the third defendant to enter a guilty plea in the high-profile case.

RadarOnline.com can reveal a judge approved a plea deal the 54-year-old struck up with prosecutors.

Chavez appeared in court Friday afternoon for an initial bond hearing and arraignment on one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. The judge allowed him to be released on a $50k unsecured bond, but he had to agree he would stop practicing medicine and surrender his passport.

As part of his plea deal, the doctor from San Diego, California must also answer all questions truthfully and cooperate with various government agencies on the investigation.

Pleading guilty will effectively mean admitting he aided in selling 20 vials of ketamine to Perry at exorbitant prices; officials say Chavez charged the actor $2k for vials that cost him $12.

Chavez allegedly supplied Perry's doctor, Salvador Plasencia, with ketamine to sell the actor illegally. Officials say Perry spent $55k on ketamine he bought from Plasencia and Chavez in the weeks leading up to his death.

Less than a month after their supposed scheme began, Perry died from an overdose at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. His death was ruled accidental, caused by the acute effects of ketamine.

Officials said: "[Chavez] admitted in his plea agreement to selling ketamine to [Plasencia], including ketamine that he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic."

"[Chavez] also obtained additional ketamine to transfer to [Plasencia] by making false representations to a wholesale ketamine distributor and by submitting a fraudulent prescription in the name of a former patient without that patient's knowledge or consent.

As Perry sunk deeper into his addiction, he sought out additional sources of the drug and began buying from "ketamine queen" Jasveen Sangha, according to prosecutors. Sangha allegedly sold Perry the vial he used to overdose.

Plasencia and Sangha have pleaded not guilty.

Chavez' lawyer, Matthew Binninger, told reporters outside the courthouse on Friday: “Mark is doing everything he can to try to accept responsibility for what happened in this offense. He is cooperating to the full extent possible to try to and right what wrong happened here."

Also charged in the case are Sangha's middle-man, Erik Fleming, and Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who administered the fatal dose to the sitcom star. Both have entered guilty pleas.

A Hollywood insider who wished to remain anonymous previously told RadarOnline.com Chavez' plea deal had "stars and power-players absolutely s----ing themselves" because "he could spill names of other users, dealers and contacts who have kept LA awash with ketamine and other deadly tranquilizers for years."

The source continued: "The high-profile nature of this Perry investigation means this isn't just going to go away either – the pressure is on to reveal big names involved in the supply chain and use of killer drugs like ketamine."

Chavez has been working with the United States Attorney's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles Police Department.

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