A Los Angeles woman dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling drugs that led to the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry.

Prosecutors described the American-British dual-national's North Hollywood home as a "drug-selling emporium" - selling a range of drugs to wealthy and well-connected clients.

Perry, who had struggled with addiction for years, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in October 2023.

Investigators determined his death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine.

Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects and is supposed to be administered only by a physician.

The judge said she must answer for her crimes, noting that she had shown no remorse in the years since her arrest.

Given her opportunity to address the court, Sangha admitted that her poor decisions had shattered people's lives, and that she was deeply ashamed and sorry for what she did.

You who has talent for business enough to make money chose the one way that hurts people," she said. "Please give this heartless woman the maximum prison sentence so she won't be able to hurt other families like ours. "

Federal authorities found dozens of ketamine vials during a raid at Sangha's Los Angeles home and accused her of supplying the injectable drug from her "stash house" in North Hollywood since at least 2019.

Sangha initially denied the charges but agreed to change her plea in August, just weeks before her trial was scheduled to begin.

As part of her plea agreement, she also pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to a man named Cody McLaury in August 2019, who died hours after the purchase from a drug overdose, according to the justice department.

Several letters in support of Sangha were also filed in court by her family and friends.

Sangha's lawyers in March requested the judge to issue a more lenient sentence, arguing she had "accepted responsibility for serious criminal conduct" and did not have a prior record.

Perry, best known for playing wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the long-running 1990s US TV sitcom Friends, struggled for decades with substance addiction and had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.

Sangha is one of five people - including medical doctors and the actor's assistant - who US officials say supplied ketamine to Perry, exploiting his drug addiction for profit, and leading to his overdose death.

Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied the actor with ketamine in the weeks before his death, was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison.

Also in December, Dr Mark Chavez, a California doctor who sold the ketamine to Perry, was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release

Highlighted sentences link to their corresponding claims. Click any highlighted sentence to jump to its detailed analysis.
Highlight Colors Indicate Claim Quality:
✓ Healthy Claim - No fallacies or contradictions detected
⚠️ Minor Issues - Has contradictions or minor fallacies
🚨 Serious Issues - Multiple contradictions or severe fallacies
Quality Criteria: Claims are evaluated for logical fallacies and contradictions with other news sources. Green highlights indicate healthy claims suitable for reference.
Source