The drug dealer who was known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’ and supplied the fatal dose to Friends star Matthew Perry has today been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jasveen Sangha was taken into custody alongside four other defendants in 2024 after investigators alleged she sold ketamine to Perry on October 24, 2023. Perry died four days later, aged 54.
The actor was discovered unresponsive in the pool at his Los Angeles residence on October 28 by his live-in assistant. A coroner later concluded he died from the ‘acute effects of ketamine’.
Following Perry’s death, the US Department of Justice opened an investigation that authorities said exposed ‘a broad underground criminal network’ which ‘took advantage’ of Perry.
Those charged included Sangha, Perry’s assistant, and multiple doctors.
Sangha—described as the ‘Ketamine Queen’ of Hollywood and a dual citizen of the United States and Great Britain—initially faced nine charges connected to Perry’s death. These included conspiracy to distribute ketamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and ketamine, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
Prosecutors alleged that since 2019 Sangha had been selling ketamine and other substances from her North Hollywood home, and that her distribution had also been linked to the overdose death of a man named Cody McLaury.
Before the case went to trial, Sangha entered guilty pleas to one count of using her home for drug distribution, one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, and three additional counts of distributing ketamine.
She also acknowledged selling drugs to McLaury in 2019.
Sangha is the third person in the case to be sentenced. However, according to The Independent, her plea agreement is the only one that expressly recognized responsibility for causing Perry’s death.
Prosecutors requested a 15-year prison term for the 42-year-old. Her lawyers, meanwhile, argued for leniency by pointing to what they described as good conduct while in custody, including leading Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Dr Salvador Plasencia, identified as the first doctor to provide Perry with the drug illegally, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Prosecutors also said Sangha later became Perry’s supplier and allegedly sold him 25 vials of ketamine for $6,000 in cash shortly before his death.
In the same broader case, another doctor received eight months of home detention after admitting to selling Plasencia the ketamine that ultimately reached Perry. Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a friend who prosecutors said served as intermediaries, are still awaiting sentencing.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.