The Japan Times - 'Ketamine Queen' jailed for 15 years over Matthew Perry drugs

Jasveen Sangha, 42, was one of five people charged over the death of the beloved Canadian-American actor, who was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his luxury Los Angeles home in 2023.

Sangha, a dual citizen of the United States and Britain, ran a drugs emporium from her swanky apartment in Los Angeles, from where she dished out narcotics to wealthy customers in America's entertainment capital.

"To cultivate her business, (Sangha) marketed herself as an exclusive dealer who catered to high-profile Hollywood clientele," prosecutors wrote in sentencing papers.

"As she told one customer in 2020, 'I'm really select with people,' and 'it's a very VIP circle of celebs.'"

Sangha worked with a middleman, Erik Fleming, to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.

When Sangha heard news reports about Perry's sudden death, she tried to cover her tracks.

"Delete all our messages," she instructed Fleming.

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," prosecutors wrote.

Investigators who raided Sangha's home in the aftermath of Perry's death found methamphetamine, ketamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and counterfeit Xanax pills, as well as a money counting machine, a scale, and devices to detect wireless signals and hidden cameras.

- Doctors -

Perry, 54, had openly struggled for decades with addictions, but had appeared to colleagues to be beating his demons when he died.

His death set off waves of grief among generations of "Friends" fans and sparked a police probe that uncovered a ring of suppliers and enablers, including medical doctors who were callously profiting from the pain of a man they should have been helping.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who admitted four counts of distribution of ketamine in the weeks before Perry's death, was ordered to serve 30 months in jail when he was sentenced last year.

Another doctor, Mark Chavez, was ordered to be confined at home and told to do hundreds of hours of community service.

Plasencia bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to Perry at hugely inflated prices.

"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote in one text message.

Prosecutors said addict Perry was paying over $2,000 per vial of ketamine; his dealers paid a fraction of that.

Iwamasa and Fleming are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

Sangha admitted 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.

Her plea acknowledged that she also sold four vials of ketamine to another man, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, in August 2019.

McLaury died hours later from an overdose.

- 'Mostly sober' -

Perry had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.

But prosecutors say that before his death, he became addicted to the substance, which is used as an anesthetic, but also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.

"Friends," which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.

Perry's role as the sarcastic man-child Chandler brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.

In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon and underwent multiple surgeries.

In his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry described going through detox dozens of times.

"I have mostly been sober since 2001," he wrote, "save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps."

T.Ikeda--JT