‘Ketamine Queen’ drug dealer sentenced to 15 years in prison following Matthew Perry death
A drug dealer known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’ has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry after supplying the substance that ultimately killed him.
The ‘Ketamine Queen’, a 42-year-old British-American also known as Jasveen Sangha, pleaded guilty to all five charges against her, including one charge of distributing ketamine resulting in death or bodily injury. She was previously described as owning a “drug-selling emporium” after prosecutors discovered large supplies of the drug during a raid of her home.
Ahead of Sangha’s sentencing, Perry’s stepmother, Debbie Perry, requested that the judge deliver the maximum prison sentence, saying that Sangha had caused “irreversible” damage. “You caused this,” she said. “You, who has talent for business enough to make money, chose the one way that hurts people.”
Sangha originally denied the charges but changed her plea last August, just weeks before her trial was set to begin. She was also initially accused of nine charges before it was reduced to five, joining another four individuals who pleaded guilty to contributing to Perry’s death.
The actor was found unconscious in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles on October 28th, 2023, and was later confirmed to have passed away due to drowning following the acute effects of ketamine, which had been supplied to him by five people, including Sangha.
The others accused of supplying ketamine to the actor include two doctors, named Dr Salvador Plasencia and Dr Mark Chavez, alongside Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who helped him purchase and administer the drug, and Eric Fleming, who sold the drug to Perry.
Plasencia was sentenced to 30 months in prison in December, and Chavez was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release in the same month, while Iwamasa and Fleming are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months.
Sangha was the last of the five to officially plead guilty, after her case had already been pushed back numerous times. At the time, her attorney, Mark Geragos, told BBC: “She’s taking responsibility for her actions”.
Following her official plea, she initially faced up to 65 years in prison.
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