Friends star’s tragic end: Five face prison after deadly Ketamine supply
One year after actor Matthew Perry’s sudden death from a ketamine overdose, five people charged in connection with the tragedy have now pleaded guilty. The case, which has drawn worldwide attention, involves Perry’s personal assistant, two doctors, a longtime acquaintance, and a woman prosecutors branded the “Ketamine Queen.”
On Monday, Jasveen Sangha became the final defendant to strike a deal with prosecutors. Sangha, 42, admitted she sold Perry the fatal dose of ketamine just days before his death on 23 October 2023. Prosecutors said she lived a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle, flaunting wealth in London, Los Angeles, Spain, Japan, and Dubai. Behind the glamour, authorities claim, was a drug business she ran from her San Fernando Valley apartment for more than five years.
Sangha allegedly cultivated an image as a “celebrity dealer,” even adopting the moniker “Ketamine Queen,” though her defence team dismissed it as a “media-friendly” nickname. A raid on her apartment in March 2024 uncovered large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and ketamine. Initially freed on bond, she was later re-indicted in August 2024 on charges tying her directly to Perry’s death and has been held without bail since. She faces up to 45 years in prison.
Also central to the case is Perry’s personal assistant, 60-year-old Kenneth Iwamasa. According to his plea deal, Iwamasa acted as Perry’s drug courier and injected the actor with ketamine multiple times each day in the final week of his life. On the day Perry died, Iwamasa admitted to giving him several injections before finding his body in a hot tub at the actor’s Pacific Palisades home. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
Embed from Getty ImagesLos Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia, known as “Dr. P,” was another key figure. Court records reveal that he supplied Perry with 20 vials of ketamine, personally administering some doses despite severe side effects, including frozen muscles and spiking blood pressure. In text messages, Plasencia mocked Perry, asking another doctor how much “this moron” might pay. He faces up to 40 years in prison when sentenced in December.
Perry’s old acquaintance, Erik Fleming, 55, introduced him to Sangha’s supply and delivered dozens of vials on her behalf. Just four days before the actor’s death, prosecutors say Fleming sold him 25 vials for $6,000. He now faces up to 25 years in prison.
The final defendant, San Diego physician Mark Chavez, admitted to sourcing the ketamine sold on to Perry by Plasencia. Chavez obtained the drug through false claims to distributors and has since surrendered his medical licence. He will be the first sentenced, in September, and faces up to 10 years.
Prosecutors described the group’s actions as reckless and profit-driven, emphasising that Perry, who had been receiving ketamine legally as a treatment for depression, was pushed deeper into dangerous, illicit use by those around him. Each defendant expressed some measure of remorse through their lawyers, but all now await sentencing that could see them spend years – or decades – in prison.Matthew Perry, best known worldwide for his role as Chandler Bing in Friends, had long spoken openly about his battles with addiction. His death shocked fans across the globe. Now, with the guilty pleas of those accused of fuelling his final, fatal spiral, the legal chapter of his tragic story nears its conclusion.