Matthew Perry case: Another doctor pleads guilty to distributing the ketamine that killed the Friends actor.

The doctor suspected of profiting from "Friends" star Matthew Perry 's ketamine addiction before his 2023 overdose death has agreed to a plea deal , the U.S. Justice Department said.

The lead doctor charged in this case, Salvador Plasencia, plans to plead guilty to distributing ketamine "in the coming weeks," the prosecutor's office said in a statement Monday.

For this reason, he faces up to 40 years in federal prison.

A second Los Angeles doctor, Mark Chavez, has already admitted to illegally helping supply ketamine to the actor and could spend up to 10 years behind bars.

Perry, famous for playing the sarcastic Chandler Bing on "Friends," had spoken publicly about his addiction struggles , but his death at 54 shocked the show's global legions of fans.

The American-Canadian actor used ketamine under medical supervision as part of therapy sessions for the depression he suffered from.

But this legal anesthetic is sometimes used for stimulant purposes , and he began using it again uncontrollably in 2023. His relapse led him to fall into the hands of "unscrupulous" doctors , according to investigators.

Dr. Plasencia is accused of having played a central role in this case , although he was not the one who provided the ketamine that killed the actor.

This doctor allegedly took advantage of the sick comedian, according to the prosecution.

"I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay," Plasencia wrote in a September 2023 text message recovered by investigators.

The plea agreement states that Plasencia received the drugs from Dr. Chavez and personally went to Perry's home to inject him with ketamine or give it to the star's assistant.

In total, Plasencia "distributed 20 vials" of ketamine to the actor over a period of about two weeks in the fall of 2023, according to the prosecution.

Authorities had previously said that the vials of ketamine cost about $12 for the doctors involved, but were sold to Perry for "$2,000."

Perry was found unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The coroner's report concluded that he died from an accidental ketamine overdose.

Five suspects are being prosecuted for their involvement in Perry's death.

In addition to Plasencia and Chávez, another defendant is Jasveen Sangha, a drug trafficker known in Hollywood as the "ketamine queen."

This American-British citizen sold the vial of ketamine that killed the actor and faces life in prison. She pleaded not guilty.

Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a middleman, Eric Fleming, have already agreed to plead guilty.

"Friends," which aired from 1994 to 2004 , became a true cultural phenomenon. The adventures of a group of friends in New York coming of age shaped an entire generation of viewers.

But behind the scenes, Perry concealed a deep anguish behind his jovial character of Chandler. He struggled for a long time with addiction to drugs and alcohol.

In his memoirs, published in 2022, he admitted to undergoing 65 rehabilitation sessions, which cost him more than $9 million.

He also underwent several surgeries related to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon surgery in 2018. "I should be dead," he once said.

In a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor shocked viewers by admitting that he suffered from severe anxiety "every night" while filming "Friends."

In the memoir, titled "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry described detoxing dozens of times.

"I've been almost sober since 2001," he wrote, "except for about sixty or seventy minor mishaps."

LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL with information from AFP