‘Ketamine Queen' to plead guilty to federal charges, selling drug that killed Matthew Perry

Los Angeles Times

a day ago

A drug dealer dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen' has agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including that she provided the drug that ultimately led actor Matthew Perry to suffer a fatal overdose in October 2023, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Jasveen Sangha, 42, also admitted in her plea agreement to selling four vials of ketamine to Cody McLaury in August 2019. McLaury, 33, died hours later in his Los Angeles home from a drug overdose that included ketamine.
Sangha agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
She was one of five people charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine to Perry, who died from acute effects of the drug. Sangha supplied the ketamine the 'Friends' actor injected on the day of his death, according to the plea agreement, which also noted that she sold drugs for years out of her North Hollywood apartment, described in a federal indictment as the 'Sangha stash house.'
As part of a deal struck with federal prosecutors, Sangha admitted to knowingly distributing ketamine to Perry, whose struggles with drug addiction and numerous rehab visits were well documented.
Mark Geragos, one of Sangha's lawyers, said 'my client is accepting her responsibilities.' She faces up to 65 years in prison based on the plea agreement. Federal prosecutors, however, said in the plea agreement that, if she accepts responsibility, they could seek to lessen time served.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the case. Sangha is expected to formally enter a guilty plea in coming weeks.
Perry, who had become addicted to intravenous ketamine, started purchasing the powerful drug from a Southern California doctor in late September 2023, according to the indictment and law enforcement officials. A month later, Perry reached out to an acquaintance, Erik Fleming, a former producer and drug counseling worker.
According to her plea agreement, Sangha worked with Fleming, 55, of Hawthorne to knowingly distribute ketamine to Perry. In October 2023, Sangha and Fleming sold Perry 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry's live-in personal assistant.
Iwamasa, a 60-year-old from Toluca Lake, repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that Sangha supplied to Fleming. On the day Perry died in his ocean-view hot tub, Iwamasa had injected him with at least three shots of Sangha's ketamine, according to the plea agreement.
Shortly after the Los Angeles Times and TMZ published news of Perry's death, according to the plea agreement, Sangha called Fleming on the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss how to distance themselves from it. That day, Sangha updated the settings on the Signal apps to automatically delete her messages with Fleming. She further instructed Fleming, 'Delete all our messages.'
Two days after Perry's death, Fleming left Sangha a voicemail on Signal and texted, 'Please call ... Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I'm 90% sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Perry]. Only his Assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler. Also they are doing a 3 month tox screening ... Does K stay in your system or is it immediately flushed out[?].'
Sangha, who has been in custody for the past year, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the drug-involved premises count, up to 10 years for each ketamine distribution count and up to 15 years for the count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
As part of the formal guilty plea in the coming weeks, she will also admit to using her North Hollywood residence to store, package, and distribute narcotics since at least June 2019.
Prosecutors allege Sangha knew the dangers of ketamine. In August 2019, she allegedly sold the drug to McLaury before he overdosed, according to the plea agreement. One of McLaury's family members later sent her a text saying the ketamine had resulted in his death.
After receiving the text, prosecutors say, she conducted a Google search: 'Can ketamine be listed as a cause of death?'
In an affidavit, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent described Sangha as a 'high-volume dealer' who kept 'handwritten notes that appeared to detail thousands of dollars of drug transactions.' In multiple chat threads with clients on encrypted messaging apps, she used coded language for drug transactions, according to the agent.
She referred to her supplier as the 'master chef' or the 'scientist,' prosecutors wrote in a court complaint detailing the case. Her electronic devices included saved videos of her cooking liquid ketamine on a stovetop to convert it to powder, prosecutors say.
In addition to Sangha, four others have already pleaded guilty to federal charges for their roles in Perry's death.
Fleming has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. At a November sentencing, he will face up to 25 years in federal prison. Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and causing death. At his sentencing Nov. 19, he will face up to 15 years in federal prison.
Ketamine is typically used as an anesthetic but has grown in popularity over the last decade as a therapeutic treatment for certain mental health diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The drug, known in the party scene as 'Special K,' has simultaneously become much more sought-after for recreational purposes.
Two physicians who also helped supply Perry with ketamine are awaiting sentencing. Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, of San Diego pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison at his sentencing hearing next month.
Salvador Plasencia, 43, a.k.a. 'Dr. P,' pleaded guilty July 23 to four counts of distribution of ketamine. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December, at which time he will face up to 10 years in federal prison for each count.