UPDATE: Having plead guilty over six months ago in the OD death of Matthew Perry, the so-called “Ketamine Queen” has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jasveen Sangha appeared today in federal court in downtown LA to hear her fate. The Mark Geragos represented Sangha, who shifted her plea back in September, is the final defendant to be sentenced in the Friends star’s October 2023 death.
Though the decade and a half behind bars is no country club membership, Sangha received far less than the 65 years and millions in fine she could have faced.
Still, prosecutors held nothing back in their appraisal of Sangha. The drug peddler showed “a cold callousness and disregard for life,” the August 2024 indictment bluntly said over long time addict Perry’s death and deals with Sangha. “She
chose profits over people, and her actions have caused immense pain to the victims’ families and loved ones.”
Today, justice attempted to sooth some of that pain
PREVIOUSLY, SEPT 3 AM: Almost two years after Matthew Perry died of an overdose in his backyard hot tub, the final defendant in his case officially entered a guilty plea today.
Jasveen Sangha, a.k.a the “Ketamine Queen,” appeared in federal court in downtown L.A. Wednesday morning. This appearance comes just three weeks after Sangha stuck a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office to switch her not guilty plea after months of resistance.
Looking at up to 65 years behind bars for her part in the Friends star’s death, she will be sentenced on December 10 in front of United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. As well, Sangha faces a fine that could top $2 million. Both her prison time and that fine could be much less when sentencing is actually delivered.
In court today and in shackles, Sangha acknowledged she knew the drugs she provided to fellow defendant Eric Fleming were likely for Perry. Sitting nearby was the actor’s mother Suzanne Perry and his step-father and Dateline NBC frontman Keith Morrison. Sangha was represented by ubiquitous defense attorney Mark Geragos.
Saying little else today besides the plea itself and remaining in custody, the 42-year-old Sangha has been accused of one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Four other defendants in the Perry case, including two doctors, will also face sentencing over the next three months to bring an end to the matter, at least legally.
PREVIOUSLY, AUG. 18 PM: The final suspect in Matthew Perry’s 2023 OD has changed her tune and agreed to enter a guilty plea, effectively ending the case over the Friends star’s death.
Just over a month before her much-delayed trial was set to start, Jasveen Sangha, better known as the “Ketamine Queen,” has admitted to being a drug dealer and to three counts of distributing the hardcore dissociative anesthetic. Perhaps most important to the closing of the book on this whole sordid affair, Sangha will plead guilty to providing the fatal dose via the previously-charged Erik Fleming that resulted in “death or serious bodily injury” to Perry on October 28, 2023 in his Pacific Palisades backyard hot tub.
“Upon entering her guilty plea, Sangha will face at her sentencing hearing – which is expected to occur in the coming months – a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the drug-involved premises count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine distribution count, and up to 15 years in federal prison for the count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury,” said the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of California on Monday upon announcement of the deal.
A formal plea and a court appearance from the Ketamine Queen are expected in the early fall, I hear. She won’t have far to go – Sangha has been in custody since August 2024.
Part of the reason for that is her part in the end of the troubled Perry’s life looks to be the one of the most direct of all the suspects identified by the feds, the DEA and the LAPD.
“In October 2023, Sangha and Fleming sold Perry 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to Kenneth Iwamasa, 60, of Toluca Lake, Perry’s live-in personal assistant,” the DOJ revealed today as a part of the Ketamine Queen’s plea agreement. Right after Perry’s death became public, Sangha damningly took to Signal to order Bel-Air treatment center program director Fleming to “delete all our messages” – something the sometimes actor didn’t seem to totally do.
Fleming and Iwamasa, as well as greedy ketamine providing doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez have all previously entered guilty pleas in the Perry case. Sangha was the last holdout of the five individuals law enforcement put at the center of Perry’s death in their summer 2024 arrests. Looking at years behind bars and big fines, they all face sentencing in the next three months.
Matthew Perry (Credit: Getty)
Getty
The addiction-plagued Perry’s body was found just before Halloween 2023. Weeks later, the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office in December 2023 said that the Emmy-nominated actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine.” The autopsy report also noted drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — a drug used to treat opioid use disorder — as contributing to his death at the age of 54.
Friends’ massive success almost from the week it debuted in 1994 rocketed Perry to immediate small screen superstardom. While the Marta Kauffman and David Crane-created series ran until 2004, Perry had a varied career outside the NBC sitcom with acclaimed roles on The West Wing, Ally McBeal, The Good Wife, and even as Sen. Ted Kennedy in Reelz’ The Kennedys: After Camelot in 2017.