Jasveen Sangha, dubbed as Ketamine Queen, has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for supplying the ketamine that caused actor Matthew Perry's (The beloved Friend's actor) overdose death. She is the last of five individuals charged in the case to plead guilty. Mathew Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub in his residence in Los Angeles at the age of 54 on October 28, 2023.
Sangha, 42, a dual U.S.-U.K. citizen with Indian origin, will plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of illegal ketamine distribution, and one count of distribution resulting in death or serious injury. These charges could result in decades behind bars.
Authorities allege she kept a large holding of drugs in her North Hollywood home, where they seized ketamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, counterfeit Xanax and other narcotics during the raid. In the weeks before Perry’s death, Sangha and associate Erik Fleming provided Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, with 51 vials of ketamine. Iwamasa administered multiple injections—including at least three on the day Perry died. In her plea agreement, Sangha also admitted to selling four vials of ketamine in August 2019 to a man, Cody McLaury, who died of an overdose hours later.
Sangha’s plea follows earlier guilty admissions from four co-defendants: Perry’s assistant Iwamasa, middleman Fleming, and physicians Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez. Each agreed to plea deals on various counts related to ketamine supply.
Matthew Perry, famed for playing Chandler on Friends, died on October 28, 2023. His autopsy identified acute ketamine toxicity combined with drowning and underlying health conditions as causes. Sangha now acknowledges supplying the fatal dose. Perry suffered from addiction issues from an early life. He has shared his fight against the substance abuse and alcohol in his memoir titled "Friends, Lovers, and the Big terrible thing" in November 2022. He was on Ketamine infusion therapy for depression at the time of death. But autopsy revealed the amount was much higher than the prescribed amount.
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that doctors use in controlled doses for general anesthesia, sedation, and treatment-resistant depression. It can alter perception, reduce pain, and induce a trance-like state. The drug is also misused recreationally because of its hallucinogenic effects.
Overdose symptoms include confusion, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, seizures, and unconsciousness. In severe cases, overdose can cause respiratory failure, coma, or death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical studies note that combining ketamine with other sedatives or alcohol increases the risk of fatal outcomes.
Upon entering the plea deal, Sangha may face up to 40 years of imprisonment. The judgement will be in a few weeks.
(Rh/Eth/TL/MSM)
