“Ketamine Queen” sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with Matthew Perry’s death

Jasveen Sangha, the woman prosecutors refer to as the “Ketamine Queen,” was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison during a hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, after pleading guilty to federal drug charges last year in connection with the 2023 death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry.

The sentencing comes after Sangha, 42 of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty last September to three counts of distribution of ketamine, one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises.

“For years…Sangha operated a high-volume drug trafficking business out of her North Hollywood residence,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “To cultivate her business, [Sangha] marketed herself as an exclusive dealer who catered to high-profile Hollywood clientele…While [Sangha] worked to expand and profit from her drug trafficking, she knew – and disregarded – the grave harm her conduct was causing.”

When pleading guilty, Sangha admitted to supplying the drugs that caused Perry’s death. She also admitted to telling accomplices to delete all incriminating text messages, setting up drug deals and distributions.

The dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom was taken into federal custody in August 2024.

Perry, best known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing on “Friends” from 1994 to 2004, was found dead by his assistant in the backyard hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, 2023. The autopsy report revealed he died from “acute effects of ketamine,” with contributing factors of “drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.”

His death was ruled accidental.

Sangha is the third person to be sentenced in relation to the case.

Salvador Plasencia, a former physician, was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison for illegally distributing ketamine to Perry and his assistant. A second doctor, Mark Chavez, was sentenced two weeks later to three years of supervised release with special conditions of eight months of home confinement and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service. Chavez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

A pair of sentencing hearings remains in connection with the Perry case, both set for later this month. 

Perry’s former live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 60 of Toluca Lake, is set to be sentenced on April 22. He purchased the drugs and repeatedly injected them into Perry, including the three shots of ketamine that led to his death on Oct. 28, 2023, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Erik Fleming, 55 of Hawthorne, acted as a middleman between Sangha and Iwamasa, according to prosecutors. Fleming sent a text message to Sangha two days after Perry’s death, saying he was “90% sure everyone is protected” and that Iwamasa “was the enabler” to Perry. He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Fleming faces up to 25 years in federal prison.