A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced self-described “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha to 15 years in prison for supplying the ketamine that killed “Friends” star Matthew Perry.
Sangha, 42, is the only one of five defendants whose plea deal formally acknowledged causing Perry’s death and is expected to serve far more time than the others. She admitted to using her North Hollywood home as a base for drug dealing and pleaded guilty to multiple ketamine distribution counts, including one resulting in death.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said Sangha must show “epic resilience” and pointed to her years-long, high-end ketamine business and broad client list in justifying the lengthy term. Prosecutors have portrayed her as a luxury drug supplier who catered to elite customers.
Perry, 54, who became a global television icon playing Chandler Bing on “Friends,” died in October 2023 after buying 25 vials of ketamine from Sangha in a $6,000 cash deal days earlier.
Before the sentence was handed down, Sangha stepped to the podium and told the judge she wears her shame "like a jacket.” She then addressed her actions directly.
"These were not mistakes. They were horrible decisions," Sangha said, which "shattered people's lives and the lives of their family and friends.”
Perry's stepfather, Keith Morrison, a correspondent for NBC's "Dateline," told the court that he and Perry's mother, Suzanne, carry a "daily, grinding sadness and sorrow.”
"There was a spark to that man I have never seen anywhere else," Morrison said. "He should have had another act. Two more acts."
Perry’s stepmother, Debbie Perry, told Sangha that her actions had inflicted suffering on “hundreds, maybe thousands” of people.
Perry had been legally receiving ketamine treatments from his personal physician as an off-label remedy for depression, a use that has grown increasingly common. When he sought larger quantities than his doctor would provide, he turned first to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who illegally sold him the drug and was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
After Perry died, Sangha told Fleming to delete the text messages between her and the actor.
Perry was found dead in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home by Iwamasa. The medical examiner determined ketamine was the primary cause of death, with drowning listed as a secondary factor and coronary artery disease and buprenorphine also cited as contributing elements.
Sangha's attorney, Mark Geragos, argued that addiction, not his client, was ultimately to blame for Perry's death.
"There was nobody who was going to stop Mr. Perry from doing what he was going to do," Geragos said.
Geragos also challenged the disparity between Sangha's sentence and those of other defendants, including Iwamasa, who personally obtained and injected the drugs into Perry at his request.
"The person who supplies the ammunition, they're more culpable than the person who pulls the trigger?" Geragos asked.
Garnett, however, said the scope of Sangha's drug enterprise, the length of time she spent dealing, and the breadth of her client list made her significantly more culpable than the others. The judge also noted that Sangha continued selling ketamine even after receiving a text message in 2019 from the sister of a customer, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, who had died of an overdose.
That sister, Kimberly McLaury, spoke directly to Sangha in court. "Had you stopped selling ketamine when I texted you, we wouldn't be here today," she said.
Garnett noted the federal sentencing guidelines placed the proper range at between 14 years and 17 and a half years.
"There's no joy in this process. Maybe at the end of the day you will feel a sense of justice," Garnett said to Perry’s family members.
Perry's assistant and a friend who acted as middlemen in the drug transactions are still awaiting sentencing.