Doctor who supplied Matthew Perry ketamine pleads guilty to drug charge

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, entered the plea Wednesday to a felony count of conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine in federal court in Los Angeles, after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors in July.

Chavez agreed to cooperate as the U.S.U.S.U.S. Attorneys Office pursues more serious charges against Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who prosecutors say gave ketamine directly to Perry. The other major target in the investigation is Jasmine Sangha, an alleged dealer who prosecutors say was known as the “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles and supplied the doses that killed Perry last year.

Chavez stood in court with his lawyer and answered dozens of questions from Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. He agreed to give up his right to trial and other rights.