By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Reuters) - A Los Angeles drug dealer known as the "Ketamine Queen" is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for illegally supplying the dose of the prescription anesthetic that led to the drowning death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry.
Jasveen Sangha, 42, pleaded guilty in September to five felony counts related to Perry's death in his hot tub in 2023. Federal prosecutors argue that Sangha should be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
"While defendant worked to
expand and profit from her drug trafficking, she knew --- and disregarded --- the grave harm her conduct was causing," prosecutors said in court documents.
Defense attorneys are advocating for a sentence of time served, telling a judge in a court filing that Sangha has taken responsibility for her actions and worked to rehabilitate herself. Sangha, who they said has a history of substance abuse, has been in prison since August 2024.
"She has maintained sustained and exemplary sobriety, and actively engaged in recovery-oriented and rehabilitative programming while in custody," her attorneys said.
Ketamine, a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties, is prescribed to treat depression and anxiety, but it also has gained popularity as an illicit party drug among recreational users.
Medical examiners concluded that Perry died from acute effects of ketamine, which combined with other factors to cause the actor to lose consciousness and drown in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. The actor was 54 years old.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including periods that overlapped with the height of his fame playing the sardonic but charming Chandler Bing on the 1990s hit NBC television comedy "Friends."
Sangha, a dual U.S.-British citizen, admitted to supplying 51 vials of ketamine to a go-between dealer, Erik Fleming, who in turn sold the doses to Perry through his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Sangha said she had been aware that vials she sold were intended for Perry.
It was Iwamasa, prosecutors said, who later injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from the vials Sangha supplied, resulting in the actor's death.
Fleming and Iwamasa have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by David Gregorio)
