Doctor to plead guilty to illegal substance distribution in Matthew Perry case
A California doctor charged in the overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of illegal distribution of an illegal substance, according to a court filing.
Salvador Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison, according to a statement from prosecutors.
Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 from acute effects of an illegal substance and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub, according to a December 2023 autopsy report.
The actor had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends.
In the plea agreement, Plasencia admitted to injecting Perry with the substance at the actor's home and in a Santa Monica parking lot in the weeks before his death, in exchange for thousands of dollars, and that it was "not for legitimate medical purposes".
The substance is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties. It is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety but also abused by recreational users.
Plasencia obtained the substance from another doctor, Mark Chavez of San Diego. According to earlier court filings, Plasencia texted Chavez about Perry, saying "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
Chavez and two other defendants already have pleaded guilty in the case. None has yet been sentenced. A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, whom authorities said was a dealer, has been charged with supplying the dose that killed Perry. She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in August.
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