One of two doctors charged in connection with the death of Matthew Perry made his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday after pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, appeared in court with his lawyer and told the judge he understood his rights.
U.S. District Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth told the defendant he could be released on bond with several restrictions, including surrendering his passport and not working as a doctor.
He agreed to surrender his medical license.
Chavez signed an agreement with prosecutors earlier this month to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.
He did not plead guilty or speak about the incident, but is scheduled to speak before another judge at a date to be determined.
“He is very remorseful,” Chavez's lawyer, Matthew Binninger, said outside the courtroom, flanked by a doctor.
“He is committed to doing everything in his power to right the wrong that occurred here. The fact that he did not accept responsibility today is simply because it was not on the agenda.”
“He's doing everything he can to cooperate and help with the situation,” Binninger added.
The lawyer said Perry was “loved around the world and it is unfortunate what happened.”
Chavez becomes the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star's fatal drug overdose last year.
Chavez also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in pursuing other suspects, including a doctor who worked with Perry to sell ketamine.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is also working with Perry's assistant, who admitted to helping obtain and inject ketamine, and an acquaintance of Perry's, who admitted to acting as a drug courier and middleman.
The three are helping to pursue their primary target, Dr. Salvador Plascencia, who is accused of illegally selling ketamine to Perry a month before his death, and a woman named Jasbeen Sangha, who authorities say sold Perry a fatal dose of ketamine.
Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
They are due to appear in court for a status briefing on Wednesday.
In his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to obtaining ketamine from a clinic he previously attended and from a wholesaler and submitting false prescriptions.
If he pleads guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Perry was found dead by his assistant on October 28th.
The coroner determined ketamine was the primary cause of death.
The actor was using the drug through his family doctor as a legal but off-label prescription to treat depression, a treatment that is becoming increasingly common.
Perry found Plascencia about a month before his death seeking more ketamine than his doctor prescribed, and Plascencia asked Chavez to obtain the drugs.
“How much will this idiot pay,” Plascencia texted Chavez.
The two met that same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four bottles of ketamine.
After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plascencia asked Chavez if he could continue to supply the drugs and be Perry's “go-to guy.”
“Doctors exploited Mr. Perry's history of drug addiction by knowingly administering ketamine to him in the final months of his life last year,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges on August 15.
Plascencia is charged with seven counts of selling ketamine and two counts related to the allegations that he falsified records after Perry's death.
He and Sangha are due back in court next week.
The two men are scheduled to go on trial separately in October, but prosecutors are seeking a single trial and the case will likely be postponed until next year.
Perry has struggled with addiction for many years, dating back to his days on Friends, where he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.
He starred on the hit NBC comedy for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer.
