Salvador Plasencia, a California doctor charged in the overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry, has agreed to plead guilty, according to a court filing.

Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of illegal distribution of the drug ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

They said the plea carried a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Plasencia was expected to enter it in coming weeks.

Plasencia and a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer had been the primary targets of the prosecution, after three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their co-operation.

Plasencia had been scheduled to start trial in August.

Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 from acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub, according to a December 2023 autopsy report.

The US actor had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

-with AP