Jayvee Sangha, a drug dealer dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen' has been jailed for 15 years for her involvement in the death of Friends star Matthew Perry.
Perry, who played the sarcastic Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom Friends in the 1990s and early 2000s, was found dead at his hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023. He was 54 years old.
Following a post mortem, high levels of ketamine were found in his system, which led to an investigation. This investigation led to the uncovering of a number of suppliers, and enablers, including two doctors and the actor's live-in personal assistant.
Mr Perry's battle with addiction was well documented, and while he had claimed sobriety in the months prior to his death, law enforcement officials had claimed that Perry had been receiving medically supervised ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety at a clinic, where he became addicted to the drug.
Authorities have said that when doctors would not increase his dosage, Perry turned to unscrupulous providers, who took advantage of his addiction for their own financial benefit, such as Sangha, aka the Ketamine Queen.
Sangha had admitted to selling 51 vials of Ketamine to Perry via a go-between dealer, Erik Fleming, who sold the drugs to Perry through his personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who later injected the drug into Perry. Sangha also admitted she was aware that these vials sold to Fleming were meant for Perry.
At least three shots were injected into Perry, which led to the actor's fatal overdose in October 2023.
Jayvee Sangha admitted that she ran a "stash house" for such drugs out of her home in North Hollywood district of Los Angeles.
She pleaded guilty to five counts of drug felonies, stemming from Perry's death.
Sangha who had faced up to 65 years in prison at one stage, was handed down a 15 year sentence, which was harsher than the penalties handed down to her four co-defendants, which included two physicians.
As part of deal with federal prosecutors, Jayvee Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a premises for the purpose of drug dealing, as well as three counts of illegal distribution of ketamine and one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death.
Along with Fleming and Iwamasa, two medial practitioners, Mark Chavez and Salavador Plasencia all pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in this case.
Back in October 2023, Mathew Perry's Friends co stars Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, and David Schwimmer. paid tribute to the late actor, saying they were "utterly devastated" by his passing.
In a statement signed by Cox, Kudrow, Aniston, Le Blanc and Schwimmer, they said: "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family". See the statement in full here.
