Hollywood 'Ketamine Queen' Sentenced to 15 Years for Matthew Perry's Death

Jasveen Sangha, a 42-year-old drug dealer known in Hollywood circles as the "Ketamine Queen," was sentenced to 15 years in prison on April 8, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett for her role in the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry. Sangha, a dual citizen of the United States and Britain, had pleaded guilty in September 2025 to five federal counts, including distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury, distribution of ketamine on three separate counts, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. She faced a statutory maximum of 65 years in prison and a fine potentially exceeding two million dollars, making the 15-year term a substantially reduced outcome. Sangha is the final defendant to be sentenced in the case surrounding Perry's death. Her defense had argued that the time she had already spent in federal custody since her arrest in August 2024 was sufficient punishment, but Judge Garnett sided with prosecutors.

Perry died in his hot tub, injected by his own assistant Matthew Perry, who gained international fame playing Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom Friends, was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. An autopsy determined he died from the "acute effects of ketamine," a potent anesthetic he had been taking as part of a supervised therapy program. According to prosecutors, Sangha worked through 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 drug supplied by Sangha, including on the day of his death, when he administered at least three shots. Perry had openly struggled for decades with addiction but had appeared to colleagues to be making progress before his death. His death triggered a police investigation that uncovered a network of suppliers and enablers, including medical professionals. „I wonder how much this moron will pay” — Salvador Plasencia via TheJournal.ie

Doctors received lighter sentences, Sangha punished most severely Sangha's 15-year sentence was more severe than those handed to any of her four co-defendants in the case. Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who admitted to four counts of distributing ketamine in the weeks before Perry's death, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on December 3, 2025. Dr. Mark Chavez, who admitted to conspiring to supply the substance to Perry, was sentenced to eight months of house arrest on December 16, 2025, along with hundreds of hours of community service. Prosecutors noted that Plasencia had purchased ketamine from Chavez and resold it to Perry at hugely inflated prices, with Perry paying over $2,000 per vial while his dealers paid a fraction of that amount. Perry's stepmother Debbie Perry called on the judge to impose the maximum 65-year sentence on Sangha, stating in a court statement that Sangha had caused "irreparable" damage. Sangha was represented by defense attorney Mark Geragos. Perry's mother Suzanne Perry and his stepfather, Dateline NBC correspondent Keith Morrison, were present in court during the guilty plea proceedings in September 2025.

Sentences in the Matthew Perry ketamine case: Jasveen Sangha (drug dealer) (before: Up to 65 years possible, after: 15 years in prison); Dr. Salvador Plasencia (doctor) (before: Pleaded guilty to 4 counts, after: 30 months in prison); Dr. Mark Chavez (doctor) (before: Admitted to conspiracy, after: 8 months house arrest)

Sangha's North Hollywood home hid a drug empire When investigators raided Sangha's home in North Hollywood, they found more than 80 vials of ketamine, thousands of counterfeit Xanax pills, methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy, along with a money counting machine, a scale, and devices designed to detect wireless signals and hidden cameras. Prosecutors described the residence as a "stash house" and said it functioned as the operational base of a drug empire that financed Sangha's lavish lifestyle. Sangha had reportedly been active as a dealer since at least 2019 and maintained extensive social contacts with Hollywood figures, regularly appearing at events such as the Golden Globes and posting images from parties and red carpet events on social media. In addition to the Perry case, Sangha admitted to selling four vials of ketamine to Cody McLaury, a 33-year-old California man, in August 2019, who died of an overdose hours later. After learning of Perry's death from news reports, Sangha attempted to destroy evidence, instructing Fleming to delete all their messages. 51 (vials) — ketamine vials sold to Perry's assistant by Sangha

Matthew Perry struggled publicly with addiction to alcohol and opioids for much of his adult life, a battle he discussed openly in interviews and in his 2022 memoir. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used in medical settings and increasingly in supervised therapeutic contexts for treatment-resistant depression. Perry had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy under medical supervision in the period before his death, according to reporting cited in the source articles. The investigation into his death led to charges against five individuals, including two physicians, a personal assistant, a middleman, and Sangha herself.