‘Ketamine queen’ pleads guilty to supplying Matthew Perry’s fatal dose
Jasveen Sangha, known in court and the media as the “Ketamine Queen,” pleaded guilty Wednesday to selling Matthew Perry the ketamine that led to the actor’s death. Sangha admitted to five federal charges, including the distribution of ketamine resulting in death and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Her trial, originally scheduled for later this month, will no longer take place. She is the fifth and final defendant in Perry’s overdose case to enter a guilty plea.
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Perry, and his stepfather, “Dateline” reporter Keith Morrison, attended the hearing. Sangha, 42, a U.S. and U.K. citizen, had cultivated a reputation among clients as the “Ketamine Queen,” a moniker frequently cited in court documents. Under a plea deal reached on Aug. 18, she pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of ketamine distribution, and one count of ketamine distribution resulting in death. Prosecutors dropped three other ketamine charges and a methamphetamine distribution charge unrelated to Perry’s death.
The plea concludes a yearlong federal investigation into Perry’s Oct. 28, 2023, death, in which five individuals were charged. Sangha is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 10 and faces up to 65 years in prison, though prosecutors have indicated they will request a sentence below the maximum. Other co-defendants—including Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty in July, and Dr. Mark Chavez, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Fleming, who cooperated in exchange for plea deals—have not yet been sentenced.
Perry, 54, was found dead in his Los Angeles home by his assistant, Iwamasa. The medical examiner determined that ketamine, commonly used as a surgical anesthetic, was the primary cause of death. Prosecutors said Perry had been using ketamine legally through his doctor for off-label depression treatment but sought higher doses than prescribed, which led him to Sangha through Fleming roughly two weeks before his death. Evidence indicates Perry purchased 25 vials of ketamine for $6,000 in cash from Sangha just four days before he died, and messages suggest Sangha instructed Fleming to delete communications on the day of the overdose.
Sangha, who had cultivated a lavish lifestyle on social media, portraying herself among high-profile and wealthy clients, has been in federal custody for approximately a year. Perry, known for his iconic role as Chandler Bing on NBC’s “Friends” from 1994 to 2004, struggled with addiction for many years, a challenge that continued throughout his post-“Friends” life.
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