Woman Receives 15-Year Sentence for Role in Matthew Perry's Ketamine Death

Actress Jasveen Sangha Sentenced to 15 Years for Role in Matthew Perry's Death

Jasveen Sangha, a woman convicted of supplying the ketamine that led to the death of actor Matthew Perry, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Perry, best known for his role in the popular TV show Friends, died in 2023 from the acute effects of ketamine, a powerful hallucinogen.

Sangha, 42, pleaded guilty in September to five felony drug counts linked to Perry's death and expressed regret for her role in supplying the actor with the drug.

In a court appearance on Wednesday, Sangha said, 'I take full responsibility for my actions. These were horrible choices that ultimately proved tragic.'

Despite her defense lawyers' request for a sentence limited to time already served, District Judge Sherilyn Garnett agreed with the prison term recommended by federal prosecutors and handed down a 15-year sentence.

Sangha was first arrested in 2024 and has been in custody for nearly a year and eight months.

Prosecutors say that Sangha sold 51 vials of ketamine to a go-between named Erik Fleming, who then sold them to Perry through the actor's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from those vials, leading to the actor's death.

Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, as well as three counts of illegal distribution of ketamine, and one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death.

Her sentence was harsher than those of two doctors who have been sentenced in connection to Perry's death, drawing frustration from her lawyer Mark Geragos.

'There's no way that Jasveen is five times more culpable than the person who injected Matthew Perry with the drug, or the doctor who got the drug,' Geragos told reporters after the hearing.

Perry had struggled with substance abuse and prescription painkillers, including in his memoir called Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, published the year before his death.