More than two years after beloved *Friends* star Matthew Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home, the ringleader of an illegal drug ring linked to his death has received a substantial federal prison sentence. Forty-two-year-old Jasveen Sangha, the woman infamously labeled the ‘Ketamine Queen’, was handed a 15-year prison term after pleading guilty to federal charges that included distributing the illicit ketamine that contributed to Perry’s October 2023 death.
Sangha, an American-British dual citizen, entered her guilty plea back in September 2024, reversing her initial not guilty plea just weeks before her trial was set to begin. Prosecutors painted a damning picture of her operation, describing her Los Angeles residence as a full-fledged ‘drug-selling emporium’ that generated massive profits to fund a luxury lifestyle. When federal agents raided her North Hollywood stash house and personal home, they uncovered dozens of vials of injectable ketamine alongside thousands of pills containing methamphetamine, cocaine, and Xanax. Court records also confirm Sangha’s connection to a second fatal overdose: she admitted to selling ketamine to Cody McLaury in 2019, who died just hours after purchasing the drug from her.
Before the sentencing hearing, Perry’s family made a impassioned plea to the judge for the harshest possible penalty. In a written victim impact statement submitted to the California federal court, Debbie Perry, Matthew Perry’s stepmother, emphasized that Sangha had caused irreversible harm to their family. ‘You who has talent for business enough to make money chose the one way that hurts people,’ she wrote. ‘Please give this heartless woman the maximum prison sentence so she won’t be able to hurt other families like ours.’
Sangha’s legal team pushed for leniency, noting that she had taken responsibility for her crimes and had no prior criminal convictions. Dozens of letters from her family and friends advocating for a reduced sentence were also submitted to the court. The judge ultimately handed down a 15-year sentence, far below the statutory maximum of 65 years that Sangha faced. She has been in federal custody since August 2024.
Perry, who captured global audiences for his decades-long portrayal of quick-witted Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom *Friends*, had openly discussed his decades-long battle with substance use disorder. At the time of his death, he was receiving supervised ketamine-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression, a legal medical treatment. Investigators later concluded his death was caused by acute ketamine toxicity from the illicit supply of the drug.
Ketamine is a federally controlled dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects that is only legally permitted for use administered by licensed medical professionals. Sangha is one of five people charged in connection with the illegal ketamine ring that supplied Perry, with all five co-defendants agreeing to plead guilty. Two medical professionals have already been sentenced: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who supplied Perry with ketamine in the weeks before his death, received a 30-month prison sentence in December 2024, while Dr. Mark Chavez, who fraudulently obtained ketamine and sold it to Plasencia, was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release. Two remaining co-defendants are awaiting sentencing: Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who assisted in purchasing and injecting ketamine, has requested a postponement for his sentencing scheduled for this month, while Eric Fleming, who obtained ketamine from Sangha to sell to Perry, is scheduled to be sentenced in June 2025.