Zürcher Nachrichten - 'Ketamine Queen' to be sentenced over Matthew Perry death

Jasveen Sangha could face over six decades in prison after admitting a bevy of charges, including one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Sangha, who is a dual citizen of the United States and Britain, has been in federal custody since August 2024.

The 42-year-old is one of five people convicted of playing a part in the death of the beloved actor, who had openly struggled for decades with substance addiction.

Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in October 2023, with an autopsy determining he had high levels of ketamine in his system.

His death set off waves of grief among generations of "Friends" fans and sparked a police probe that uncovered a ring of suppliers and enablers, including medical doctors who were callously profiting from the pain of a man they should have been helping.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who admitted four counts of distribution of ketamine in the weeks before Perry's death, was ordered to serve 30 months in jail when he was sentenced last year.

Another doctor, Mark Chavez, was ordered to be confined at home and told to do hundreds of hours of community service.

Plasencia bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the American-Canadian actor at hugely inflated prices.

"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote in one text message.

Prosecutors said addict Perry was paying over $2,000 per vial of ketamine; his dealers paid a fraction of that.

Sangha worked with a middleman, Erik Fleming, to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.

When Sangha heard news reports about Perry's sudden death, she tried to cover her tracks.

"Delete all our messages," she instructed Fleming.

When investigators raided Sangha's home in North Hollywood, they found methamphetamine, ketamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and counterfeit Xanax pills, as well as a money counting machine, a scale, and devices to detect wireless signals and hidden cameras.

Iwamasa and Fleming are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

- 'Mostly sober' -

Sangha has admitted one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

Her plea acknowledges that she also sold four vials of ketamine to another man, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, in August 2019.

McLaury died hours later from an overdose.

"She's taking responsibility for her actions," her lawyer Mark Geragos told AFP earlier.

Perry had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.

But prosecutors say that before his death, he became addicted to the substance, which is used as an anesthetic, but also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.

"Friends," which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.

Perry's role as the sarcastic man-child Chandler brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.

In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon and underwent multiple surgeries.

In his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry described going through detox dozens of times.

"I have mostly been sober since 2001," he wrote, "save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps."

O.Hofer--NZN