Matthew Perry case returns to court as family calls for toughest sentence possible for alleged ‘Ketamine Queen’

Prosecutors say multiple people played roles in the actor’s fatal overdose as sentencing approaches in the case

The family of Matthew Perry is calling for the harshest possible punishment for the woman prosecutors say supplied the ketamine linked to the actor’s death, as a major sentencing decision approaches in a California court.

Debbie Perry, the late actor’s stepmother, submitted a victim impact statement urging the judge to impose the maximum sentence on Jasveen Sangha. Sangha, often referred to by authorities as the ‘Ketamine Queen’, has admitted to multiple charges related to distributing the drug involved in Perry’s fatal overdose.

In her statement, Debbie Perry described the lasting pain the actor’s death has caused the family and others affected by addiction. She wrote that the harm caused by Sangha’s actions was “irreversible” and asked the court to ensure she receives the longest possible prison term allowed under the law.

“The pain you’ve caused to hundreds maybe thousands is irreversible,” she wrote in the filing presented to the court. “Please give this heartless woman the maximum prison sentence so she won’t be able to hurt other families like ours.”

Sangha could face a sentence exceeding six decades in prison when the court delivers its decision. She previously pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including distributing ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the hit television sitcom Friends, died in October 2023 after being found unresponsive in the jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Medical officials later determined his death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine and ruled it an accident.

Investigators concluded that several individuals were involved in supplying the drug during the weeks before his death. Authorities say Sangha worked with an intermediary, Erik Fleming, to sell dozens of vials of ketamine to Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

According to prosecutors, Iwamasa administered multiple injections to Perry on the day he died. Court documents say the assistant gave the actor at least three doses of ketamine on 28 October 2023.

Four other people have been convicted in connection with the case. One of them, physician Salvador Plasencia, admitted to distributing ketamine and was later sentenced to 30 months in prison. Another doctor involved in the case received eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release.

Prosecutors said Plasencia obtained the drug from another physician and sold it to Perry at highly inflated prices, at times charging thousands of dollars per vial.

Meanwhile, Fleming and Iwamasa are both awaiting sentencing in the same investigation, which authorities say exposed an underground network supplying ketamine outside of regulated medical treatment.

Before his death, Perry had openly discussed his decades long battle with addiction. In recent years he had been receiving supervised ketamine therapy as part of treatment for depression, though investigators said the drugs that caused his death were obtained outside that medical setting.

Sangha, who has been in federal custody since 2024, has reportedly apologised to Perry’s family. However, the actor’s relatives say the consequences of the drug distribution ring extend far beyond one tragic death.

With sentencing imminent, the case continues to draw attention to the illegal market surrounding prescription drugs and the risks faced by those struggling with substance dependence.