A woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” has agreed to plead guilty to supplying the fatal dose of the drug that killed Friends star Matthew Perry.
Jasveen Sangha, 42, a dual US and UK national, is the fifth and final defendant to strike a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding the trial that had been scheduled for September.
Federal prosecutors confirmed that Sangha will plead guilty to five criminal charges, including maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of ketamine distribution, and one count of distribution resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She faces a possible sentence of up to 45 years in prison.
Prosecutors repeatedly referred to her underworld nickname, “Ketamine Queen,” in official documents, portraying her as a prolific dealer. Alongside Sangha, California doctor Salvador Plasencia was also a main target of the investigation. Plasencia, who signed his own plea deal in June, was accused of charging Perry $2,000 per vial of ketamine that actually cost just $12.
Three other defendants – Mark Chavez, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Flemin – had already pleaded guilty last year in exchange for cooperating with the investigation, implicating Sangha and Plasencia.
Perry, who became a household name in the 1990s and 2000s thanks to Friends, died at his Los Angeles home in October 2023 at the age of 54. Court documents revealed that he had been taking ketamine up to eight times a day as part of a treatment for depression.
