Matthew Perry: 'Ketamine Queen' sentenced to 15 years in 'Friends' star death

Matthew Perry passed away at the age of 54 in 2023 due to a ketamine overdose

Matthew Perry: Ketamine Queen sentenced to 15 years in Friends star death
Matthew Perry: 'Ketamine Queen' sentenced to 15 years in 'Friends' star death

Jasveen Sangha, known to her drug customers as the "Ketamine Queen", has been sentenced to 15 years in jail linked to Matthew Perry's death.

Sangha pleaded guilty to illegally selling the ketamine that took the life of the Friends actor. She has been in federal custody since her arrest in August 2024.

In remarks to the courtroom, Sangha noted, "I pray for forgiveness every day."

"Thank you for giving me the harshest reality check of my life. Thank you for taking me out of the equation," she added.

Matthew Perry's family reaction to the Ketamine Queen sentence

Matthew Perry's stepfather, Keith Morrison, praised the judge for delivering a "highly reasoned sentence", adding, "We miss Matthew dreadfully, of course, and I feel badly for the perpetrator here as well. Nobody won today."

In a March 25 court filing, federal prosecutors requested a prison sentence of 180 months, or 15 years, followed by three years' supervised release.

Referring to Sangha as a "drug dealer who sold drugs that hurt people", US attorneys for the Central District of California shared in a court document that even after learning that her drugs caused Perry's death, "she didn't care and kept selling".

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," the prosecutors penned.

About Matthew Perry's death

Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the long-running 1990s sitcom Friends struggled for decades with substance addiction and had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.

Sangha is one of five people, including medical doctors, who reportedly supplied ketamine to Perry, exploiting his drug addiction, leading to his overdose death.

Perry, at the age of 54, was found face down in the heated end of his pool at his home in the Pacific Palisades on October 28, 2023. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied the actor with ketamine in the weeks before his death, was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison.

Moreover, Dr Mark Chavez, a California doctor who sold the ketamine to Perry, was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release.

Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who helped purchase and inject the actor with ketamine, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month, but his legal team has requested a postponement.

Eric Fleming, who sold ketamine he obtained from Sangha to Perry, is scheduled to be sentenced in June.