LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Jasveen Sangha, the San Fernando Valley dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” who supplied the drugs that ultimately caused the overdose death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry in October 2023, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.
The North Hollywood woman pleaded guilty in September 2025 to maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Federal prosecutors are asking for a 15-year sentence.
Sangha, 42 — whose customers referred to her as the “Ketamine Queen,” prosecutors say — was the last of five defendants, including two then- licensed physicians, to plead guilty in the case.
Sangha’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said his client never met Perry, and suggested that “some quirks in the law” unfairly allowed her to be charged with his death despite having no direct contact with the actor. The attorney said he would explore “who was responsible for what” at the sentencing hearing.
In her plea agreement, Sangha admitted selling four vials of ketamine to another man, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, in August 2019, four years before Perry died. McLaury, an aspiring personal trainer, died from an overdose hours after acquiring the drugs.
Sangha also acknowledged possessing with intent to distribute various drugs at her apartment. In March 2023, seven months prior to Perry’s death, law enforcement raided the residence and found quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine, ecstasy and counterfeit Xanax, papers show. She further admitted possessing a gold money counting machine, a scale, a hidden camera detector, drug packaging materials and $5,723 in cash.
Sangha told prosecutors she had been using her North Hollywood home to store, package and distribute narcotics, including ketamine and methamphetamine, since at least June 2019.
“To cultivate her business, defendant marketed herself as an exclusive dealer who catered to high-profile Hollywood clientele,” prosecutors wrote in sentencing papers. “As she told one customer in 2020, `I’m really select with people,’ and `it’s a very VIP circle of celebs.”‘
Perry, who had long struggled with addiction issues to various substances, obtained the powerful surgical anesthetic from at least two sources.
Beginning in mid-October 2023, the actor’s live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, began obtaining ketamine for Perry from the assistant’s friend, Erik Fleming, who was getting it from Sangha, according to court papers.
After discussing prices with Iwamasa, Fleming coordinated the sales with Sangha, and brought cash from Iwamasa to Sangha’s “stash house” to buy 50 vials of the drug, documents show.
On Oct. 28, 2023, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of Sangha’s ketamine, causing Perry’s death, authorities said.
When she pleaded guilty last year, Sangha admitted knowing that the ketamine vials she sold to Fleming were ultimately going to Perry — who was referred to at the hearing by his initials only.
Ketamine also came to Perry via then-physician Salvador Plasencia. In late September 2023, Plasencia learned that Perry was interested in obtaining the anesthetic, which is also used as a therapy for depression and as a so- called party drug known in some circles as “Special K,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Plasencia contacted then-doctor Mark Chavez — who operated a ketamine clinic — to obtain the drug to sell to the actor. In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” records show.
Prosecutors said Plasencia illegally distributed ketamine to Perry and Iwamasa on at least seven occasions and taught the personal assistant how to inject Perry with the drug. Plasencia knew that Iwamasa had never received medical training and knew little, if anything, about administering or treating patients with controlled substances, court papers state.
Federal authorities said Plasencia conspired with Chavez about inventory, price and availability of ketamine to sell to Perry and Iwamasa. Chavez, in turn, sold Plasencia orally administered ketamine lozenges that he obtained after writing a fraudulent prescription in a patient’s name without her knowledge or consent, and lied to wholesale ketamine distributors to buy additional vials of liquid ketamine that Chavez intended to sell to Plasencia for distribution to Perry.
Prosecutors said Perry was paying $2,000 per vial of ketamine, while his dealers were paying $12 for each vial.
Perry detailed his years-long struggle with addiction in the 2022 memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” The “Friends” star, who played the character Chandler Bing in the series from 1994 to 2004, says he went through detox dozens of times.
The actor was found dead Oct. 28, 2023, in a hot tub behind his Pacific Palisades home of a fatal ketamine overdose. He was 54. The five defendants were charged in an 18-count indictment in August 2024 in connection with his death.
Sangha’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,” prosecutors wrote.
Plasencia, 43, also known as “Dr. P,” pleaded guilty on July 23 to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He was sentenced in December to 2 1/2 years behind bars for illegally supplying the anesthetic drug.
Chavez, 55, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. The second of two doctors convicted in Perry’s death, Chavez was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service for illegally supplying the anesthetic drug.
Two defendants are awaiting sentencing.
Fleming, 55, of Hawthorne, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 29, at which time he will face up to 25 years in federal prison.
Iwamasa, 60, of Toluca Lake, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 22, at which time he will face up to 15 years in federal prison. He is attempting to have his sentencing moved to June.
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