'Ketamine Queen' To Plead Guilty Over Drugs That Killed Matthew Perry
Jasveen Sangha, 42, will admit several charges, including one of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury in relation to the late star.
Sangha, who is expected to formally enter her pleas in the coming weeks, is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom. She has been in federal custody since August 2024.
She will become the fifth person to admit playing a part in the death of the beloved actor, who had openly struggled for decades with substance addiction.
Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in 2023 at the age of 54.
A criminal investigation was launched soon after an autopsy discovered he had high levels of ketamine -- an anesthetic -- in his system.
Last month Dr Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine in the weeks before Perry's death.
Another doctor, Mark Chavez, admitted last year to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry.
Plasencia allegedly bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the American-Canadian actor at hugely inflated prices.
"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote in one text message.
According to her plea agreement, 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 Sangha supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's ketamine, which killed the actor.
The Department of Justice said when she heard news reports about Perry's sudden death, Sangha tried to cover her tracks.
"Delete all our messages," she instructed Fleming.
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 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."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
5 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
US Ramps Up Attack On International Court Over Israel
The United States on Wednesday defiantly expanded efforts to hobble the International Criminal Court over its prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sanctioning a judge from ally France. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also targeted a Canadian judge in a separate case in his latest volley of sanctions against the tribunal in The Hague, which is backed by virtually all other Western democracies as a court of last resort. "The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel," Rubio said in a statement, using a term popular with President Donald Trump's supporters. He attacked the court for investigating US and Israeli citizens "without the consent of either nation." Among the four people newly slapped with sanctions was Judge Nicolas Guillou of France, who is presiding over a case in which an arrest warrant was issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. France -- whose president, Emmanuel Macron, was in Washington two days earlier -- expressed "dismay" over the action. The sanctions are "in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary," a foreign ministry spokesman said in Paris. The ICC in its own statement denounced the "flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution." The court's prosecution alleges Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel's offensive in Gaza including by intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of war. Netanyahu saluted Rubio for his "decisive act against a smear campaign of lies against the State of Israel" and the Israeli army. Israel launched the massive offensive in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel in which mostly civilians were killed. The ICC has also sought the arrest of former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who has since been confirmed killed by Israel. Guillou is a veteran jurist who previously participated in trials over Kosovo and Lebanon. He worked for several years in the United States assisting the Justice Department with judicial cooperation during Barack Obama's presidency. Under the sanctions, he will be refused entry to the United States and any assets he has in the world's largest economy will be blocked -- measures more often taken against US adversaries than citizens of friendly nations. Also targeted by the latest US sanctions was a Canadian judge, Kimberly Prost, who was involved in a case that authorized an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including by US forces. Rubio also slapped sanctions on two deputy prosecutors -- Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. The State Department said the two were punished by the United States for supporting "illegitimate ICC actions against Israel," including by supporting the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. Rubio imposed sanctions on four other ICC judges in June. The Trump administration has roundly rejected the authority of the court, which was set up as a court of last resort when national systems do not allow for justice. Trump on Friday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Alaska even though Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant, a factor that has stopped him from traveling more widely since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine. The United States, Russia and Israel are among the nations that reject the ICC. Previous president Joe Biden's administration also opposed its action against Israel but withdrew previous sanctions and was open to narrow cooperation with the ICC, including in gathering evidence in Ukraine. Judge Nicolas Guillou opens a court session on Kosovo in The Hague in November 2020 AFP
DW
18 hours ago
- DW
Colombia: Court orders release of former President Uribe – DW – 08/20/2025
Earlier this month, Alvaro Uribe was found guilty of bribing militia fighters to withdraw testimony linking him to right-wing paramilitary groups. Colombia's Superior Court on Tuesday ordered the release of former President Alvaro Uribe from house arrest while he appeals a conviction for witness tampering and bribery in a case related to the country's prolonged civil war. On August 1, the 73-year-old was sentenced to 12 years of detention. This was the first time in Colombia's history that a former president was convicted of a crime. He also received the longest possible prison term. Uribe was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw the fight against leftist rebels. His hardline approach is attributed to FARC rebels being forced into peace negotiations. However, detractors point to the human rights violations under him as Colombia's military strived for crucial victories against the rebels. The military is accused of killing thousands of young people and passing them off as rebels. Uribe was found guilty of pressuring jailed witnesses to alter testimony linking him to right-wing militias. He denies the charges and appealed the conviction, calling the case politically motivated and instigated by Colombia's left, now led by President Gustavo Petro, his political archrival. The court said Uribe does not pose a flight risk and will remain free until mid-October, when a final decision is to be issued. If the deadline passes without a ruling, the conviction will be annulled and the former president will go free. "Thanks to God, thanks to so many fellow Colombians for their expressions of solidarity," Uribe posted on X. "I will dedicate every minute of my freedom to the freedom of Colombia." Uribe remains a powerful figure in Colombia's conservative politics. He was a close ally of the United States and retains ties to the American right. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called Uribe's conviction "the weaponization of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges." However, Rubio did not provide any evidence backing his claims. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
'Call Of Duty' To Fire Starting Gun At Gamescom Trade Show
Mega-selling first-person shooter franchise "Call of Duty" will blow open the Gamescom video games trade fair Tuesday, headlining a wave of new releases as the industry weathers a rough patch. Around 5,000 people, including game publishers, developers and fans, will attend the evening launch ceremony, before hundreds of thousands of gamers descend on the western German city of Cologne later in the week. Canadian TV presenter Geoff Keighley will from 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) introduce titles including "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7", one of two dozen instalments in the long-running series, as part of a two-hour showreel of the industry's upcoming blockbuster productions. After a business and press day on Wednesday, Gamescom's doors will be flung open until Sunday to bring around 1,500 exhibitors together with swarms of fans, some of them dressed in elaborate costumes painstakingly drawn from the screens of their favourite titles. While last year's event drew 335,000 visitors, organisers hope 2025 can bring it back to pre-Covid levels of around 370,000. "We'll only know on the final day how many actually visited, but... the first day is sold out, all indicators are in the green," Felix Falk, managing director of Germany's GAME industry association that co-organises Gamescom, told AFP ahead of opening day. One of the major draws to the vast halls of the Koelnmesse convention centre is the opportunity for hands-on time with the feast of the latest releases at the vast stands laid on by major firms. Nintendo is back after staying away last year, surfing on the success of its record-breaking Switch 2 console launch earlier this year. And Microsoft's Xbox division will be showing off its own portable console, slated for release towards the end of the year. But Japanese PlayStation maker Sony has elected to stay away in 2025. Among the hotly anticipated games unveiled this edition are new episodes of horror sagas "Silent Hill" and "Resident Evil". Indie hit "Hollow Knight" will get a sequel with "Silksong" after an eight-year wait, while Nintendo is cooking up "Metroid Prime 4", following up the beloved science-fiction action series. Exhibitors may be less ecstatic than fans at this year's Gamescom as the industry endures an extended rough patch. "The sector hasn't had an easy time of it in the last two years, there was a lot of consolidation, job cuts, some studios closed, some projects were ended prematurely," Falk said. "That's not unusual for the highly dynamic games industry but it's nevertheless not pretty when it happens," he added. Tracking website Game Industry Layoffs has tallied almost 30,000 job cuts since early 2023, with more than 4,000 this year alone. But revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast.
