A second doctor was sentenced to home confinement for supplying ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his fatal 2023 overdose.
LOS ANGELES: A second doctor involved in supplying ketamine to “Friends” star Matthew Perry has been sentenced.
Mark Chavez, 55, was ordered to serve eight months of home confinement by a California court on Tuesday.
He had previously admitted one count of conspiracy to supply the drug.
Perry was reportedly paying up to $2,000 per vial for ketamine in the weeks before his 2023 death.
Chavez, who ran a ketamine infusion clinic near San Diego, must also perform 300 hours of community service.
The disgraced doctor wrote a fraudulent prescription to obtain the drug, which he then supplied to fellow medic Salvador Plasencia.
Plasencia was jailed earlier this month for two-and-a-half years.
Both men have surrendered their medical licenses.
Three other individuals have also admitted their part in supplying drugs to the actor.
They will be sentenced over the coming months.
One of them, alleged “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, could face up to 65 years in prison.
Perry’s live-in personal assistant and another man pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy charges.
The actor’s death at age 54 sent shockwaves through his global fanbase.
An autopsy found high levels of ketamine in his system, prompting a criminal investigation.
Perry had been using ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.
Prosecutors say he later became addicted to the substance, which is also a popular party drug.
His role as Chandler on “Friends” brought him fame and wealth but hid a dark struggle with addiction.
In his 2022 memoir, Perry described going through detox dozens of times.
“I have mostly been sober since 2001,” he wrote, “save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps.” – AFP
