Nearly two years after the sudden death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry, the woman dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" has admitted to playing a central role in supplying the drugs that killed him.
On Wednesday, 42-year-old Jasveen Sangha entered a guilty plea in a California court to multiple charges, including one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
A dual citizen of the United States and Britain, Sangha has been in federal custody since August 2024 and now faces the possibility of more than six decades in prison when she is sentenced on December 10.
Sangha is the fifth individual to plead guilty in connection with Perry's death, which sent shockwaves across the entertainment world.
Perry, 54, was discovered lifeless in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in October 2023. An autopsy later revealed lethal levels of ketamine in his system, sparking a criminal investigation into how the actor obtained the drug.
Court documents reveal a web of dealers and middlemen who capitalised on Perry's struggle with addiction. Two doctors — Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez — admitted to illegally supplying ketamine, with Plasencia selling vials at vastly inflated prices.
Prosecutors said Perry was charged up to $2,000 per vial, while the suppliers paid just $12. In one text message, Plasencia mockingly remarked: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
Sangha, working through a middleman named Erik Fleming, sold 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Prosecutors say Iwamasa injected Perry multiple times, including at least three shots on October 28, 2023 - the night that ultimately claimed the actor's life.
When news broke of Perry's death, Sangha allegedly tried to cover her tracks, urging Fleming: "Delete all our messages." A subsequent raid on her North Hollywood residence uncovered a trove of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, counterfeit Xanax, and drug paraphernalia such as scales, a money-counting machine, and surveillance detection devices.
A pattern of death
Beyond Perry's case, Sangha's plea also acknowledged another fatality linked to her drugs. In August 2019, she sold four vials of ketamine to 33-year-old Cody McLaury, who died from an overdose just hours later. Her lawyer, Mark Geragos, said Sangha was "taking responsibility for her actions."
Perry, known worldwide for his role as the witty Chandler Bing on "Friends", had long been candid about his battles with addiction. Despite immense fame and fortune, he suffered multiple relapses, including a drug-related burst colon in 2018 that required several surgeries.
In his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry confessed to undergoing dozens of detox attempts, writing: "I have mostly been sober since 2001, save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps."
Prosecutors said Perry initially used ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression but later became addicted, turning to the black market for the drug's hallucinogenic escape.
As sentencing approaches, attention remains fixed on the broader circle of enablers who profited from Perry's vulnerability. Several of them are expected to face court in the coming months, marking the final chapter of a tragic saga that claimed one of television's most beloved stars.
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