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(NewsNation) — Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen,” has pleaded guilty to five federal criminal charges, including that she provided the drugs that ultimately led to the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry in 2023.
Sangha, 42, took a plea deal for 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 Justice Department said in a statement Monday.
According to her plea deal, Sangha said she worked with Erik Fleming, a program director at Bel-Air treatment center the Red Door, to "knowingly distribute ketamine to Perry." In October 2023, the two sold Perry 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
On Oct. 28, 2023, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of Sangha’s ketamine, which caused Perry’s death, the department stated.
According to autopsy findings, the overdose caused Perry to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had been undergoing supervised treatment with ketamine for his depression. However, his last professional session had been more than a week before his death, so the ketamine in his system could not have been from that.
The medical examiner said the amount of ketamine in Perry’s system was equivalent to the amount used as anesthesia in general surgery.
Sangha called Fleming on Signal to discuss Perry’s death days after, prosecutors said.
That day, she updated the settings on the Signal app to automatically delete her messages with Fleming and instructed Fleming to “Delete all our messages,” prosecutors stated.
Two days after Perry’s death, Fleming left Sangha a voicemail on Signal and texted, “Please call . . . Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I’m 90% sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Perry]. Only his Assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler. Also they are doing a 3 month tox screening . . . Does K stay in your system or is it immediately flushed out[?],” according to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department did not reveal the details of the plea agreement Monday.
Sangha faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the drug-involved premises count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine distribution count, and up to 15 years in federal prison for the count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
She also admitted in her plea agreement to possession with intent to distribute various drugs at her North Hollywood residence.
Investigators said they found drugs and cash at her home, which included 1.7 kilograms of pressed pills containing methamphetamine, 79 vials of liquid ketamine, counterfeit Xanax pills and other drug trafficking items such as a gold money counting machine, a scale and $5,723 in cash.
Sangha also admitted to using her home to store, package and distribute narcotics, including ketamine and methamphetamine, since at least June 2019.
Fleming, Iwamasa and Salvador Plasencia have all pleaded guilty to charges related to Pery's death.
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