A San Diego doctor implicated in Prodigy’s death was convicted Wednesday of drug charges stemming from his distribution of the prescription narcotic known as ketamine. Dr. Mark Chavez, 54 years old, has pleaded guilty to a felony in the federal court in Los Angeles, making him the third person to do so in the wake of the death of the famous “Friends” star last year.
Prosecutors offered lesser charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their cooperation as they went after two targets they deemed more responsible for the overdose death: another doctor and a supposed dealer who, they claim, was referred to as the ketamine queen of Los Angeles. Free on bond until the sentencing is Chavez.
Other demanded conditions include turning over his passport and providing his medical license for revocation. Chavez’s lawyer, Matthew Binninger, offered similar sentiments this past August 30 to the media after Chavez had had his first trial: The man is ‘incredibly remorseful’, ‘he’s trying his hardest to correct the wrong committed’. Perry’s assistant, who has testified that he helped Perry get and use ketamine, is also cooperating with federal prosecutors, as is a Perry associate who said he supplied and delivered drugs.
The three are helping prosecutors as they go after their primary targets: R. Salvador Plasencia, accused of providing ketamine to Perry in the last month of his life, and Jasveen Sangha, accused of giving the actor the fatal dose. Both have entered a not-guilty plea and are yet to be sentenced for the trial, from an accredited clinic and from a wholesale distributor who gave him prescribed medicines with a fake prescription. Plea bargain and his assistance to the prosecutor will probably see him sentenced to serve less than the legally prescribed ten years in prison, set for when he is sentenced on April 2.
Perry died on October 28, 2023, and his assistant discovered his body. The ruling from the medical examiner was that ketamine was the main contributor to the death. The actor had been using the drug via another doctor in a perfectly legal manner but for an unapproved purpose — namely, treating depression — which has become more common. Perry started to ask for more ketamine than he could get from his doctor.
Some month before the actor was killed, he met Plasencia, and the latter reportedly requested Chavez to source the drug for him. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia sent another text to Chavez as it was documented by the prosecutors in the court.
The two agreed to meet the same day in Costa Mesa, California, which is located between Los Angeles and San Diego, and swap at least four vials of ketamine, according to the filings. He played with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, who acted in ten seasons from 1994 to 2004 in NBC’s Friend – the sitcom phenomenon.
