(Corrects spelling of first name of defendant in paragraph 2)
By Lisa Richwine and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Reuters) – A drug dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison in connection with the fatal overdose of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, including her role in supplying the dose of the powerful anesthetic that killed the actor.
Jasveen Sangha, who admitted to running a “stash house” for illegal narcotics out of her home in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in September to five felony drug counts stemming from Perry’s 2023 death at age 54.
Sangha, 42, a dual U.S.-British citizen, had faced a possible sentence of up to 65 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Garnett imposed a 15-year term, as recommended by federal prosecutors.
Sangha, wearing beige prison garb for the hearing in a Los Angeles federal courtroom, expressed remorse for her role in Perry’s death in a statement she delivered moments before the sentence was pronounced.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. These were horrible choices that ultimately proved tragic,” Sangha told the judge.
Sangha’s sentence was harsher than those given to two physicians previously sentenced in the case. Two more co-defendants convicted earlier – another drug dealer and Perry’s onetime personal assistant – have yet to be sentenced.
The defense had urged the judge to limit Sangha’s sentence to time already served since her arrest in August 2024, about one year and eight months.
JUDGE REBUFFS LENIENCY ARGUMENT
Sangha’s lawyer argued that she suffered from her own substance abuse problems but has remained sober since her arrest and has demonstrated a willingness to improve her life and the lives of others, including her efforts at organizing and leading weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
But the judge said she took into account the fact that Sangha had continued selling illegal drugs for six months after Perry’s death, exhibiting a lack of remorse at the time.
Perry was found by his live-in personal assistant floating face down and lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded Perry died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing the actor to lose consciousness and drown.
Ketamine is a short-acting but potent anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychological disorders. It also has gained popularity for abuse as an illicit party drug.
DECADES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse that overlapped with the height of his fame playing the sardonic but charming Chandler Bing on the 1990s hit NBC television comedy “Friends.”
His death came a year after publication of Perry’s memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” which chronicled bouts with addiction to prescription painkillers and alcohol that he wrote had come close to ending his life more than once.
In the months before his death, Perry had claimed to have regained sobriety. But according to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been undergoing medically supervised ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, Perry turned to unscrupulous providers willing to exploit his drug dependency for their own financial benefit, authorities said.
Within weeks, he was dead from an overdose of ketamine supplied by Sangha, who was known to her customers on the street as the “Ketamine Queen.” Sangha acknowledged selling a total of 51 vials of ketamine to a go-between dealer, Erik Fleming, who in turn sold the doses to Perry through the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
It was Iwamasa, prosecutors said, who later injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from the vials Sangha had supplied, resulting in the actor’s death.
As part of her deal with prosecutors, Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, plus three counts of illegal distribution of ketamine and one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death.
Sangha admitted then that she was aware that vials she sold to Fleming were intended for Perry. She also admitted to selling ketamine to a person in August 2019 who died hours later from an overdose.
Perry’s stepfather, broadcast journalist Keith Morrison, recalled how the actor had brought joy to his family and wrote a best-selling book and a play even while struggling with addiction.
“All those possibilities died with him. He should have had another act, two more acts,” Morrison said in a victim-impact statement before sentencing.
Fleming, Iwamasa and the two medical doctors charged – Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia – have all pleaded guilty to federal drug offenses in the case. Plasencia was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. Chavez got eight months of home confinement.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and Will Dunham)
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