'Ketamine Queen' accused of selling fatal dose to Friends star Matthew Perry agrees to plead guilty

A woman known as the “Ketamine Queen,” charged with selling Friends star Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, has agreed to plead guilty.

Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of Perry to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, avoiding a trial that had been planned for September.

She and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty last month, had been the primary targets of the investigation. Three other defendants — Dr. Mark Chavez, Kenneth Iwamasa and Erik Fleming — pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation in the investigation.

Sangha agreed in a signed statement filed in court to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the ketamine that led to the death of Perry.

In a brief statement, Sangha's lawyer Mark Geragos said: “She's taking responsibility for her actions.”

Prosecutors had cast Sangha, a 42-year-old citizen of the US and the UK, as a prolific drug dealer who was known to her customers as the “Ketamine Queen,” using the term often in press releases and court documents.

She 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.

The final plea deal came a year after federal prosecutors announced that five people had been charged in Perry's death on 28 October 2023 after a sweeping investigation.

Sangha admitted in the agreement to selling four vials of ketamine to another man, Cody McLaury, hours before he died from an overdose in 2019. McLaury had no relationship to Perry.

Prosecutors will drop three other counts related to the distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of methamphetamine that was unrelated to the Perry case.

Sangha will officially change her plea to guilty at an upcoming hearing, where sentencing will be scheduled, prosecutors said.

She could get up to 45 years in prison.

Perry died in his home, aged 54, after getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, which is an increasingly common use for the surgical anaesthetic.

The actor was taking ketamine six to eight times a day before he died, according to court documents.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on NBC’s megahit series Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.