Another individual allegedly responsible for the overdose death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry has plead guilty.
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen,” is charged with selling the actor and author the drug that killed him. She plead guilty on Monday and is the fifth and final defendant charged in his October 2023 death. The defendants struck a plea agreement with federal prosecutors to avoid a September 2025 trial date.
“She’s taking responsibility for her actions,” Sangha’s lawyer Mark Geragos said in a brief statement after she plead guilty to five federal charges. Sangha, 42, plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
In the agreement, as reported by The Associated Press, Sangha admits she sold four vials of ketamine to Cody McLaury, hours before he died of an overdose in 2019. Prosecutors dropped three other counts related to the distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of methamphetamine that were unrelated to the death of Perry.
Sangha faces up to 45 years in prison when she is sentenced at an upcoming hearing, during which she will officially change her plea to guilty. Prosecutors said in a statement they will ask the judge for less than the maximum sentence, but the judge does not have to follow the terms of the plea agreement.
On October 28, 2023, Perry was found by his assistant dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. Medical examiner findings ruled that ketamine, which is a drug usually used for surgical anesthesia, was the primary cause of death. Later findings of the investigation revealed ketamine was Perry’s frequent drug of choice to treat depression.
Charged in his death in the coming months were Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who plead guilty last month, Dr. Mark Chavez, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and Erik Fleming, whom all plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation to provide statements that implicated Plasencia and Sangha.
In the months leading to his death, Perry, 54, requested more ketamine than his doctor could legally prescribe to him as a patient, so the actor turned to Plasencia about a month before he died. Approximately two weeks before his death, Perry began buying more of the drug from Sangha.
Text messages revealed during the investigation that Sangha and Fleming preyed on Perry, because they knew he was wealthy and an addict. According to Sangha’s indictment, she told Fleming on the day Perry died that they should delete all messages. When Sangha’s North Hollywood home was searched by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in March 2024, they found large amounts of methamphetamines and ketamine although the “Ketamine Queen” had been in federal custody for almost a year at that point.
The five defendants await sentencing.
Perry rose to stardom while starring in the NBC TV hit series “Friends” for 10 seasons. In a 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry shared his struggles with addictions to alcohol and drugs, which began while filming “Friends” after an injury led to an addiction to pain medication.
Related stories:
Remembering ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry: The One Where We Say Goodbye to Chandler Bing
Five charged in ketamine death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry’
San Diego doctor pleads guilty to conspiracy in supplying ketamine in death of Matthew Perry
Support AFP
Share
Rebecca Barnabi
