Matthew Perry Remembered as Final Defendant in His Death Gets Sentenced

Jasveen Sangha, the Los Angeles-area drug dealer federal prosecutors labeled the "Ketamine Queen," was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison for illegally selling the ketamine that killed Matthew Perry, closing the last chapter of a federal case that implicated five people in the death of one of television's most beloved performers.

Sangha, who faced a potential maximum of 65 years, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release. Prosecutors alleged she sold 25 vials of ketamine to Perry's representatives on October 24, 2023, four days before the 54-year-old actor was found floating face-down in his hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home. Her sentencing on April 8, 2026, made her the final of five defendants to resolve their cases in federal court, each of whom pleaded guilty.

The courtroom drew Perry's family. His mother, Suzanne Morrison, attended alongside her husband, NBC Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison, who told reporters afterward that he misses his stepson "deeply." Perry's stepmother, Debbie Perry, submitted a victim impact statement urging the maximum sentence and wrote that Sangha had caused pain to "hundreds maybe thousands" of people in ways that are "irreversible."

Sangha's sentence far exceeded those of the other defendants. Dr. Mark Chavez was sentenced to eight months in October 2024. Dr. Salvador Plasencia, Perry's personal physician, received two and a half years.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Perry's death an accident on December 15, 2023, citing acute effects of ketamine as the primary cause, with drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine listed as contributing factors.

Perry's death on October 28, 2023, came roughly one year after he published his memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing," in which he detailed decades of substance use with unflinching candor. He revealed that he had been an alcoholic since age 14 and became addicted to Vicodin following a 1997 jet ski accident, prompting a 28-day rehabilitation stay at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that same year. In 2013, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy honored him with its Champion of Recovery Award.

That willingness to speak publicly about addiction shaped how fans and advocates alike understood his legacy, distinct from but inseparable from his work as Chandler Bing on Friends. The NBC sitcom ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004 and became a cultural institution, drawing more than 52 million viewers for its series finale in May 2004 and earning 62 Emmy nominations over its run, winning six. By the show's final two seasons, Perry and each of his five co-stars, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer, earned $1 million per episode. Perry received his sole Emmy nomination for the show in 2002 for Season 9, the only season he later said he filmed while fully sober. He also earned Emmy nominations for a guest role on The West Wing in 2003 and his lead performance in The Ron Clark Story in 2006.

In the days after his death, Friends drew 583 million minutes of viewing in a single Nielsen tracking period, its highest weekly total since January 2023, reaching No. 7 on Nielsen's acquired titles chart. The five surviving cast members issued a joint statement calling themselves "more than just cast mates... a family" and saying they were "all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew." Aniston later told Elle the death was "so alarming and shocking, yet not shocking," reflecting years of worry about Perry's health.

Perry's career extended well beyond Central Perk. He made his big-screen debut in 1988 in "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" alongside River Phoenix and later wrote and starred in the dark comedy play "The End of Longing," which premiered at London's Playhouse Theatre in 2016. His early television work included a guest arc on Growing Pains in 1989 and a series-regular role on the short-lived NBC sitcom Sydney in 1990.

Sangha's sentencing closes the federal prosecution, but the case has drawn sustained attention from legal observers as a signal that prosecutors are increasingly willing to pursue severe charges against suppliers who provide controlled substances to high-profile clients with documented addiction histories.