Jasveen Sangha, who pleaded guilty last year to selling a fatal dose of ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.
Known as the “Ketamine Queen”, Sangha is the fifth defendant to take a plea deal and admit guilt in the case. Federal prosecutors say she should receive a 15-year sentence for her role in Perry’s death and that of another individual, citing the “far-reaching scope of defendant’s illegality [and] her callous response to the deaths she helped cause”.
Perry died aged 54 in October 2023 and officials ruled that the surgical anesthetic ketamine was the primary cause of his death. The Friends star, who had struggled with addiction for years, had previously taken ketamine legally to treat depression. But Perry’s doctor refused to give him the drug in the amounts he wanted, and he sought it from other sources.
Authorities charged five people in connection with the case: two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez; the actor’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected him with the drug before his death; Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry’s; and Sangha.
The doctors did not supply the ketamine that killed Perry, but a judge told Plasencia that he and others helped the actor on the road to his death by “continuing to feed his ketamine addiction”. Sangha, 42, admitted to providing the actor with some 50 vials of ketamine before his death, while Fleming acted as a middleman.
In her plea agreement, Sangha admitted that she had distributed drugs, including ketamine and meth, from her home in North Hollywood since 2019. She also said she had sold ketamine to Cody McLaury, a 33-year-old who died in 2019 shortly after purchasing the drugs, as well as Perry, and continued dealing after learning of their deaths. Prosecutors pointed to these factors when arguing for a sentence of 15 years in prison.
“The defendant’s actions show a cold callousness and disregard for life. She chose profits over people, and her actions have caused immense pain to the victims’ families and loved ones,” the prosecution said in court documents.
Sangha is from a privileged background, attended a “well-respected university” and earned a master’s degree, and sought to sell drugs for “greed, [glamour], and access”, prosecutors argued.
The defense has argued, however, that Sangha has admitted responsibility and does not minimize her conduct. She is being represented by the high-profile defense attorneys Mark Geragos and Alexandra Kazarian, who said that Sangha has no criminal history and has taken part in recovery and rehabilitation programs while incarcerated. Her defense argues she should be released with time served.
“Ms Sangha’s demonstrated rehabilitation, including two years of sustained sobriety, consistent engagement in recovery programming, and strong community support, reflects a meaningful commitment to change and a low risk of recidivism,” the defense wrote in court documents.
Although she made a plea agreement, the judge does not have to give her a shorter sentence and Sangha could spend as long as 65 years in prison.