'Ketamine Queen' to plead guilty to selling drug that killed Matthew Perry

A woman known in Hollywood as “the Ketamine Queen” agreed to plead guilty to supplying the drugs that caused the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.

Jasveen Sangha, 42, "is expected to formally plead guilty in the coming weeks," the California U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Remanded in custody since August 2024, the U.S.-British citizen faces up to 65 years in prison as part of the plea agreement, which includes several charges, including distribution of ketamine causing death.

"She takes responsibility for her actions," her lawyer, Mark Geragos, told AFP.

Her acknowledgement of guilt should spare her a jury trial and lead the prosecution to drop some of the charges brought by prosecutors.

Perry, famous for playing the sarcastic Chandler Bing on Friends, was found dead in the hot tub of his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023. His passing at age 54 shocked fans of the hit series, who knew of his drug addiction problems.

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 also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.

"Fulfilling any request"

Sangha will become the fifth person to admit to being involved in Perry's death.

Last month, physician Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine in the weeks leading up to Perry's death. Another doctor, Mark Chavez, admitted last year to conspiring to provide the drug to the actor.

Plasencia allegedly bought the ketamine from Chavez and sold it to Perry at grossly inflated prices. "I wonder how much this asshole will pay," Plasencia wrote in a text message.

According to his plea agreement, Sangha worked with a middleman, Erik Fleming, to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who lived with the actor.

Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine supplied by Sangha. On Oct. 28, 2023, Perry took at least three doses of Sangha's ketamine, which resulted in his death.

The Justice Department said that when Sangha learned of Perry's sudden death, she tried to erase the evidence. "Delete all our messages," she instructed Fleming.

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

Sangha, who posted images on Instagram of her lavish trips, sometimes on private jets, and ostentatious jewelry, has been in the spotlight since the start of the investigations.

According to court documents, she sold dozens of doses of ketamine to Perry in unmarked vials. She also offered him a sample so he could try the product before buying it. The last batch she gave him was accompanied by a small gift: ketamine-laced lollipops.

The woman boasted that she could "fulfill any order."

"High-end and celebrities."

"She only deals in high-end and celebrities," the accused middleman wrote to Matthew Perry's personal assistant. "If she wasn't good merchandise, she would lose her clientele."

Investigators also found a green journal detailing the amounts she bought and sold, totaling thousands of dollars.