Jasveen Sangha, Matthew Perry. Courtesy of Jasveen Sangha/Instagram; Santiago Felipe/Getty Images
Jasveen Sangha, a.k.a. the “Ketamine Queen,” is maintaining her innocence — and denying any association to Matthew Perry — after being charged in connection to his death.
“She isn’t connected to Matthew Perry at all,” Mark Geragos, one of Sangha’s attorneys, claimed during a Today show interview that aired on Wednesday, September 4.
Geragos insisted there is “no mystery” surrounding his client’s alleged association with Perry, denying that she knew him.
Perry died in October 2023 at the age of 54. It was later determined that his death was caused by “the acute effects of ketamine,” which Sangha allegedly sold him through drug dealer Erik Fleming. Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa allegedly worked with Fleming to obtain the drugs that killed the Friends actor.
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“People like to make her out into something she isn’t, but there’s a whole different side here,” Geragos said of Sangha, noting that her story “will be told in a trial.”
Perry’s death was initially ruled an accident last year, but the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced in August that Sangha, Iwamasa, Fleming, Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez had been charged in connection with the actor’s death.
Sangha was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine and five counts of distribution of ketamine. She has pleaded not guilty.
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Sangha is also linked to a second fatal drug overdose in addition to Perry’s death. In August 2019, she allegedly distributed ketamine to an individual named Cody McLaury, who died of an overdose within a day.
According to August court documents obtained by Us, there are “likely more victims” that Sangha is responsible for due to the amounts of drugs she’s allegedly sold. Prosecutors accused Sangha of being “engaged in a half-decade long drug business.”
Earlier this year, Sangha’s stash house in North Hollywood, California, was raided, and law enforcement seized “multiple pounds of methamphetamine pills, 79 vials of ketamine, fraudulently obtained pharmaceutical pills and other illegal drugs,” per the report.
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Sangha was released on a $100,000 bond in March after being charged with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. She has continued to maintain her innocence, but Perry’s case, specifically, has continued to heat up.
Perry’s assistant Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including on the day he died.
Fleming claimed in his plea deal filing that he “never dealt” with Perry directly. He accused Iwamasa of being “the enabler” after he bought 50 vials of ketamine within one month on behalf of Perry.
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Fleming — who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death — also alleged that Sangha included an “add-on” of ketamine lollipops for Perry’s second October 2023 delivery due to the high volume.
Plasencia and Chavez, meanwhile, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Plasencia pleaded not guilty, while Chavez pleaded guilty and agreed to a plea deal in August that could result in up to 10 years in jail.
“He’s incredibly remorseful,” Chavez’s lawyer Matthew Binninger said of the doctor, who agreed to turn over his medical license. “He’s trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”