Written by Lisa Richwine and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES – A drug dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison in connection with her fatal overdose of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, including her role in providing the dose of the powerful drug that killed the actor.
Jayvi Sangha, who admitted to running a drug “stash” out of her home in the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in September to five drug charges related to Perry’s 2023 death at age 54.
Sangha, 42, who holds dual American and British citizenship, was facing a possible prison sentence of up to 65 years.
US District Judge Sherrilyn Garnett imposed a 15-year prison sentence, as federal prosecutors had recommended.
Sangha, wearing a beige prison uniform during the hearing in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles, expressed remorse for her role in Perry’s death in a statement moments before the sentencing.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. These were horrific choices that ultimately turned out to be tragic,” Sangha told the judge.
Sangha’s sentence was harsher than that of two doctors previously sentenced in this case. Two other defendants convicted earlier – another drug dealer and Perry’s former personal assistant – have yet to be sentenced.
The defense had urged the judge to limit Sangha’s sentence to the time she has already served since her arrest in August 2024, about one year and eight months.
The judge rejects the leniency argument
Sangha’s lawyer said she struggled with 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 to organize and lead weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
But the judge said she took into account the fact that Sangha continued to sell illicit drugs for six months after Perry’s death, which showed a lack of remorse at the time.
Perry was found by his immediate personal assistant floating face down and calm in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles on October 28, 2023.
The autopsy report concluded that Perry died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors led to the actor losing consciousness and drowning.
Ketamine is a short-acting but powerful psychedelic with hallucinogenic properties, and is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychological disorders. It has also gained popularity for its use as an illegal party drug.
Decades of drug abuse
Perry has publicly admitted to decades of drug abuse that coincided with the height of his fame when he played the sarcastic and charming Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s comedy series Friends.
His death came a year after the publication of Perry’s memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” in which he chronicled bouts of addiction to painkillers and alcohol that he wrote and that came close to ending his life more than once.
In the months before his death, Perry claimed to have regained sobriety. But according to federal law enforcement officials, Perry was undergoing medically supervised ketamine injections to treat 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 addiction for their own financial gain, authorities said.
Within weeks, he died of an overdose of ketamine administered to him by Sangha, who was known to her clients on the street as the “Ketamine Queen.” Sangha admitted to selling a total of 51 vials of ketamine to dealer Eric Fleming, who in turn sold the doses to Perry through the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
Prosecutors said it was Iwamasa who later injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from vials supplied by Sangha, leading to the actor’s death.
As part of her plea deal with prosecutors, Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of operating a drug-involved premises, as well as three counts of unlawful distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Sangha then admitted that she was aware that the 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, radio journalist Keith Morrison, recalls how the actor brought joy to his family and wrote a best-selling book and play even while struggling with addiction.
“All those possibilities died with him. He should have had one more act, two more acts,” Morrison said in a victim impact statement before sentencing.
Fleming, Iwamasa and the two accused doctors — Mark Chavez and Salvador Plascencia — pleaded guilty to federal drug crimes in the case. Placencia was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Chavez received eight months of home confinement.
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