The drug dealer who was known as the 'Ketamine Queen' and supplied the fatal dose to Friends star Matthew Perry has today been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jasveen Sangha was arrested along with four others in 2024 for selling ketamine to Perry on October 24, 2023, which resulted in his death at the age of 54 four days later.
The actor was found unresponsive by his live-in assistant in the pool at his Los Angeles home on October 28, with a coroner ruling he had died due to the 'acute effects of ketamine'.
The US Department of Justice went on to investigate his death, resulting in the crackdown of 'a broad underground criminal network' that 'took advantage' of Perry.
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Included in the group charged was Perry’s assistant, Sangha, and several doctors.
Sangha, who was dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen’ of Hollywood, is a dual citizen of the United States and Great Britain, and was charged with nine counts related to Perry's death, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and ketamine, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
Prosecutors say Sangha had been distributing ketamine and other drugs from her North Hollywood home since 2019 and had also led to the death by overdose of at least one man, named Cody McLaury.
Shortly before her trial, Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of using her home for drug distribution, one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, and also three counts of distribution of ketamine.
She also admitted to selling drugs to McLaury in 2019.
Sangha is now the third defendant sentenced, but according to The Independent, she is the only one whose plea deal acknowledged causing Perry’s death.
Prosecutors had asked that the 42-year-old be sentenced to 15 years in prison, while her defense attorneys put forward the claim that she was a model inmate in prison, even leading Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Dr Salvador Plasencia was the first doctor to sell Perry the illegal drug, and was handed two and a half years in prison.
Sangha later became Perry’s contact and allegedly sold him 25 vials of ketamine for $6,000 cash before his death, prosecutors said.
Another doctor was sentenced to eight months of home detention after admitting to selling Plasencia the ketamine he sold to Perry, and Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and his friend (who acted as middlemen), are still awaiting their sentencing.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.
Topics: Matthew Perry, Crime, Friends, US News, Celebrity, Drugs
Britt Jones