LOS ANGELES, April 8: Jasveen Sangha, a 42-year-old Los Angeles-based drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen,” is set to be sentenced on Wednesday for illegally providing the prescription anesthetic that contributed to the drowning death of actor Matthew Perry.
Sangha pleaded guilty last September to five felony charges connected to Perry’s death in 2023, when the actor was found unconscious in his hot tub. Federal prosecutors are pushing for a 15-year prison sentence, emphasizing that Sangha knowingly expanded her drug trafficking operation despite the serious harm it caused.
In court documents, prosecutors stated that while Sangha profited from her illegal activities, she disregarded the dangerous consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, her defense team is requesting a sentence of time served, highlighting her acceptance of responsibility and efforts toward rehabilitation. They noted that Sangha, who has a history of substance abuse, has been incarcerated since August 2024 and has demonstrated exemplary sobriety and active participation in recovery programs during her custody.
Ketamine, a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects, is medically prescribed for depression and anxiety but has also become popular as an illicit recreational drug. Medical examiners determined that Perry’s death resulted from the acute effects of ketamine combined with other factors, which caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his Los Angeles home hot tub. Perry was 54 years old at the time of his death.
Notably, Perry had publicly acknowledged his struggles with substance abuse over the years, including during the peak of his fame as Chandler Bing on the 1990s NBC sitcom “Friends.”
Sangha, who holds dual U.S.-British citizenship, admitted to supplying 51 vials of ketamine to an intermediary dealer, Erik Fleming. Fleming then sold the doses to Perry through his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Sangha acknowledged knowing that the vials she sold were intended for Perry. Prosecutors revealed that Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three doses of ketamine from Sangha’s supply, which directly led to the actor’s death.
Both Fleming and Iwamasa have pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing later this month.
