LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death made his first appearance in a federal court in Los Angeles on Friday after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, stood in court with his lawyer and told a judge he understood his rights. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth told him he could remain free on bond with several restrictions, including turning over his passport and not working as a doctor.
Chavez signed an agreement with prosecutors earlier this month to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. He did not enter his guilty plea or speak about the case, which he will do with another judge at a date to be determined.
He would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the "Friends" star's fatal overdose last year.
Chavez also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they pursue others, including the doctor Chavez worked with to sell ketamine to Perry. Also working with the U.S. Attorney's Office are Perry's assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.
The three are helping prosecutors as they go after their main targets: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say is a dealer who sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
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Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.
"Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and has signed a plea agreement," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement before Friday's hearing. "At his arraignment, Judge Rosenbluth will set a date for Chavez's change of plea proceeding - or direct the parties to contact the chambers of the federal district judge assigned to the case to set the hearing date. "
After a guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
After Friday's arraignment, Chavez's attorney spoke to reporter as the doctor stood alongside him outside the courthouse.
"He is incredibly remorseful for what happened," the attorney, Matthew Benninger, said of Chavez, "not just because it happened to Matthew Perry but because but because it happened to a patient."
Chavez "is trying everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here," Benninger said.
Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.
Seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him, about a month before his death Perry found Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.
"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia texted Chavez. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.
After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry's "go-to."
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges on Aug. 15 that "the doctors preyed on Perry's history of addiction in the final months of his life last year to provide him with ketamine in amounts they knew were dangerous."
Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two charges related to allegations he falsified records after Perry's death. He and Sangha are scheduled to return to court next week. They have separate trial dates set for October, but prosecutors are seeking a single trial that likely would be delayed to next year.
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on "Friends," when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC's megahit sitcom.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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