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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Jasveen Sangha -- the so-called "Ketamine Queen" -- pleaded guilty Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court to illegally selling the ketamine that killed "Friends" actor Matthew Perry in October 2023.
The North Hollywood woman pleaded 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 42-year-old Sangha will face up to 65 years in federal prison when she is sentenced Dec. 10.
Sangha -- whose customers referred to her as the "Ketamine Queen," prosecutors say -- is the last of five defendants, including two physicians, to plead guilty in the case.
Perry, who had long struggled with addiction issues to various substances, obtained the powerful surgical anesthetic from at least two sources.
Beginning in mid-October 2023, the actor's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, began obtaining ketamine for Perry from the assistant's friend, Eric Fleming, who was getting it from Sangha, according to court papers.
After discussing prices with Iwamasa, Fleming coordinated the sales with Sangha, and brought cash from Iwamasa to Sangha's "stash house" to buy 50 vials of the drug, documents show.
On Oct. 28, 2023, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of Sangha's ketamine, causing Perry's death, authorities said.
In court Wednesday, Sangha admitted knowing that the ketamine vials she sold to Fleming were ultimately going to Perry -- who was referred to at the hearing by his initials only.
Ketamine also came to Perry via Santa Monica physician Salvador Plasencia. In late September 2023, Plasencia learned that Perry was interested in obtaining the anesthetic, which is also used as a therapy for depression and as a so-called party drug known in some circles as "Special K," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Plasencia contacted San Diego doctor Mark Chavez -- who previously operated a ketamine clinic -- to obtain the drug to sell to the actor. In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, "I wonder how much this moron will pay," records show.
Prosecutors said Plasencia illegally distributed ketamine to Perry and Iwamasa on at least seven occasions and taught the personal assistant how to inject Perry with the drug. Plasencia knew that Iwamasa had never received medical training and knew little, if anything, about administering or treating patients with controlled substances, court papers state.
Federal authorities also said that Plasencia conspired with Chavez about inventory, price and availability of ketamine to sell to Perry and Iwamasa. Chavez, in turn, sold Plasencia orally administered ketamine lozenges that he obtained after writing a fraudulent prescription in a patient's name without her knowledge or consent, and lied to wholesale ketamine distributors to buy additional vials of liquid ketamine that Chavez intended to sell to Plasencia for distribution to Perry.
Prosecutors said Perry was paying $2,000 per vial of ketamine, while his dealers were paying $12 for each vial.
Perry detailed his years-long struggle with addiction in the 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing." The "Friends" star, who played the character Chandler Bing in the series from 1994 to 2004, says he went through detox dozens of times.
He was found dead Oct. 28. 2023, in a hot tub behind his Pacific Palisades home of a fatal ketamine overdose. He was 54. The five defendants were charged in an 18-count indictment in August 2024 in connection with his death.
In her plea agreement, Sangha also admitted to selling four vials of ketamine to another man, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, in August 2019. McLaury, an aspiring personal trainer, died hours later from an overdose, prosecutors and other sources said.
Sangha's attorney, Mark Geragos, told the judge that the sentencing hearing Dec. 10 would be unusually long, due to "evidentiary issues" he wished to explore and witnesses he planned to call to the stand.
Geragos told reporters that Sangha had never met Perry, and suggested that "some quirks in the law" unfairly allowed her to be charged with his death despite having no direct contact with the actor. The attorney said he wanted to determine "who was responsible for what" during the sentencing hearing.
Geragos said his client "has always accepted responsibility" for her role in the "tragedy."
In her agreement with prosecutors, Sangha admitted to possessing with intent to distribute various drugs at her apartment. In March 2023, seven months prior to Perry's death, law enforcement raided the residence and found quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine, ecstasy, and counterfeit Xanax, papers show. She also acknowledged possessing a gold money counting machine, a scale, a hidden camera detector, drug packaging materials and $5,723 in cash.
Sangha told prosecutors she had used her North Hollywood home to store, package and distribute narcotics, including ketamine and methamphetamine, since at least June 2019.
The other four defendants are awaiting sentencing.
Chavez, 55, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, and faces up to 10 years in federal prison at his sentencing hearing on Dec. 17.
Fleming, 55, of Hawthorne, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12, at which time he will face up to 25 years in federal prison.
Iwamasa, 60, of Toluca Lake, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19, at which time he will face up to 15 years in federal prison.
Plasencia, 43, also known as "Dr. P," pleaded guilty on July 23 to four counts of distribution of ketamine. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3, at which time he will face up to 10 years in federal prison for each count.