‘Ketamine Queen’ to Plead Guilty Over Role in Matthew Perry’s Fatal Overdose

Jasveen Sangha, better known as the “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, has agreed to plead guilty in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the deal in mid-August, confirming that Sangha admitted to several charges tied to selling ketamine.

According to court filings obtained by USA TODAY, Sangha, 42, signed the plea agreement on August 14, and it was filed on August 18. She has admitted to five counts, including maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distributing ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine that resulted in death or serious injury.

Each of these charges carries heavy penalties. Prosecutors said she faces up to 20 years in prison for running a drug house, up to 10 years for each of the distribution charges, and as many as 15 years for the fatal dose that contributed to Perry’s death. Her next court date has not yet been scheduled.

The case centers on events in October 2023, when Sangha worked with Erik Fleming, described as Perry’s acquaintance, to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Iwamasa then injected Perry with the drug. Both Fleming and Iwamasa have already reached plea deals of their own.

Sangha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, told USA TODAY that “She’s taking responsibility for her actions.”

In addition to Perry’s case, Sangha admitted in her plea that she also sold ketamine in 2019 that caused the overdose death of Los Angeles resident Cody McLaury. Prosecutors pointed to that earlier death as proof that she was fully aware of the dangers of ketamine but continued selling it anyway. As part of her agreement, Sangha will be required to pay restitution to both Perry’s and McLaury’s families.

For years, prosecutors have called Sangha the “Ketamine Queen,” saying she ran her drug operation out of her home in North Hollywood. She allegedly stored, packaged, and sold both ketamine and methamphetamine starting in 2019.

Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends, died on October 28, 2023. He was found unresponsive in his hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home and was pronounced dead later that afternoon at age 54. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as the “acute effects of ketamine.”

The report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used for addiction treatment, as contributing factors.

According to medical examiners, the high level of ketamine in his system would have led to “cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression,” which likely caused him to lose consciousness in the water.

Although Perry had been undergoing ketamine-assisted therapy to treat anxiety, the medical examiner’s office made it clear that the drug in his system at the time of death could not have come from those sessions. The therapy had ended at least a week earlier, and ketamine’s half-life is only a few hours.

Sangha’s trial was originally set to begin in Los Angeles in September 2025, but her guilty plea means she will now face sentencing instead.

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