AI Generated Summary
- In September 2025, she changed course and admitted guilt to five federal charges, including three counts of ketamine distribution, one count of distribution resulting in death or serious bodily injury, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
- Jasveen Sangha, the Punjabi-origin woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” by US prosecutors, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on April 8, 2026, for her role in supplying the ketamine that killed Friends star Matthew Perry.
- Born on July 22, 1983, in London to Punjabi-origin parents—entrepreneur Nilem Singh and Baljeet Singh Chhokar—Sangha spent her early years in the UK before the family moved to the affluent Calabasas area of California.
Jasveen Sangha, the Punjabi-origin woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” by US prosecutors, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on April 8, 2026, for her role in supplying the ketamine that killed Friends star Matthew Perry.
Born on July 22, 1983, in London to Punjabi-origin parents—entrepreneur Nilem Singh and Baljeet Singh Chhokar—Sangha spent her early years in the UK before the family moved to the affluent Calabasas area of California. She held dual British-American citizenship and projected a glamorous lifestyle on social media, flaunting luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel while jet-setting. Behind this facade, however, she ran a sophisticated drug trafficking operation from her North Hollywood home, which authorities called a “stash house” stocked with ketamine, cocaine, Xanax, and counterfeit pills.
Prosecutors described Sangha as a central figure in a network catering to Hollywood’s elite. She earned her nickname “Ketamine Queen” among clients for her ready supply of the powerful anesthetic, which was increasingly abused for its dissociative effects. When actor Matthew Perry, who had long battled addiction, sought ketamine through an acquaintance, Sangha stepped in. In the weeks before his death, she and an associate sold him approximately 50 vials of the drug for thousands of dollars. On October 24, 2023, Perry’s live-in assistant injected him with doses from Sangha’s supply. Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in his backyard jacuzzi the next day; the coroner ruled his death an accident caused by the acute effects of ketamine.
Sangha was arrested in August 2024 and initially pleaded not guilty. In September 2025, she changed course and admitted guilt to five federal charges, including three counts of ketamine distribution, one count of distribution resulting in death or serious bodily injury, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. She also acknowledged supplying ketamine that contributed to another overdose death in 2019. Prosecutors highlighted her “callous” response after learning of Perry’s death—she allegedly instructed an associate to delete messages to cover her tracks.
During sentencing in Los Angeles federal court, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett imposed the 15-year term requested by prosecutors—the harshest penalty handed down so far in the case involving five defendants. Sangha’s lawyers had sought time served (about 20 months), citing her lack of prior convictions and expressions of remorse. In court, she reportedly told the judge, “I shattered people’s lives. I wear my shame like a jacket.” She will also serve three years of supervised release after prison.
The case has drawn attention to the dangers of ketamine misuse, especially among those with addiction histories, and the underground networks fueling celebrity drug culture. For Sangha, once surrounded by luxury and high-profile connections, the verdict marks a stark fall from the influencer-style life she cultivated. Her story underscores how personal ambition and poor choices can intersect with tragedy, leaving lasting damage for families and communities affected by addiction and illicit drugs.
