‘Ketamine Queen’ kept running drug den after Matthew Perry’s OD, prosecutors say
The so-called “Ketamine Queen,” one of five people charged in Matthew Perry’s October 2023 death, allegedly continued running a drug den for months following the actor’s fatal overdose.
Prosecutors say that 41-year-old Jasveen Sangha — who is also linked to at least one other ketamine-related death — continued her “half-decade long drug business” in the months following the 54-year-old “Friends” star’s death, according to new court documents obtained by Us Weekly.
The accused drug dealer allegedly sold Perry the deadly batch of ketamine — a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties — on Oct. 24. After Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine” on Oct. 28, Sangha allegedly tried to destroy evidence by instructing director-producer Erik Fleming, accused of serving as a broker for the drug deals, to “delete all” their communications.
Sangha faces a total of nine counts in connection with Perry’s death, including one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California announced last week. She has pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held without bond after being deemed a flight risk.
If convicted on all charges against her — including one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises — Sangha faces up to a life sentence.
NBC News previously reported that Sangha was arrested in March of this year in a separate federal drug case. The accused “large volume drug dealer” was freed from custody after posting a $100,000 bond.
Two doctors, as well as Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, have also been charged in his death.
At the time of Perry’s death, the five-time Emmy nominee — who was open about his lifelong battle with addiction — was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to address depression and anxiety though otherwise believed to be sober.
Dr. Salvador “Dr. P” Plasencia, 42, who knew that 59-year-old Iwamasa, lacked medical training, allegedly instructed the latter on how to inject the drug into Perry. Plasencia pleaded not guilty last Thursday to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
Dr. Mark Chavez, accused of selling Plasencia drugs from his former ketamine clinic, agreed to plead guilty to one count of the same charge.
Iwamasa, who allegedly injected Perry repeatedly in the weeks prior to his death — including three times in a matter of hours on Oct. 28 — has already pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.