The woman prosecutors dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” has agreed to plead guilty to supplying the fatal dose that killed Friends star Matthew Perry, closing a high-profile Los Angeles case.
Jasveen Sangha, 42, pleaded to five federal charges, including distributing ketamine resulting in death. Prosecutors said she was a prolific dealer whose drugs reached celebrities and “high-end” clients, according to Associated Press.
She admitted to selling four vials of ketamine to a man who died in 2019 and later to Perry himself, who prosecutors say purchased 25 vials for $6,000 just days before his October 2023 death.
“The Ketamine Queen” moniker appeared not only in press coverage but in official court filings, prosecutors noting that Sangha described herself as catering to celebrities. In messages shared with Perry’s assistant, a friend vouched that her drugs were “unmarked but it’s amazing” and that she only worked “with high end and celebs.”
Perry’s longtime assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who discovered him dead in his Los Angeles home, and friend Erik Fleming both took plea deals last year and testified that Sangha supplied the fatal doses.
Sangha’s plea deal means she faces up to 45 years in prison, though her sentence will be set at a later hearing. Prosecutors said three other counts of distribution, and a methamphetamine charge unrelated to Perry, will be dropped.
She and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who also signed a plea deal in June, were the main targets of the investigation. Perry had been legally using ketamine as an off-label treatment for depression but began buying additional supply from Plasencia and Sangha after his prescription was limited.
On the day of Perry’s death, Sangha allegedly urged Fleming to delete their messages. Her home in North Hollywood was raided by DEA agents in March 2024, turning up large stashes of drugs. She was indicted that summer and has remained in custody since.
None of the defendants has yet been sentenced. Perry, remembered globally as Chandler Bing, had battled addiction for decades, making his overdose a tragic ending to both his career and his personal struggles.
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With inputs from Associated Press