Doc charged in Matthew Perry death case to appear in court after plea deal

Chavez appeared in the Roybal Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine after he sold the drug to Dr. Salvador Placensia, who allegedly provided it to Perry’s longtime assistant, Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Iwamasa.

Iwamasa had confessed earlier to administering the fatal dose of ketamine to the Friends star on October 28, 2023.

Perry had been undergoing ketamine therapy for years to manage his depression, a treatment he described in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, as being akin to “being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel.” However, it was the “acute effects of ketamine use” that ultimately led to Perry’s tragic drowning, according to authorities.