Years before federal agents branded her the “Queen of Ketamine” and accused her of supplying the drug that caused the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, Jasveen Sangha included a cryptic quote in her Los Angeles-area high school yearbook.
“It’s not what they say about you that counts, but what they whisper,” states a quote next to a photo of Sangha in Calabasas High School’s 2001 yearbook. “We are each angel with only one wing, and we can only fly by holding each other close.”
The yearbook failed to acknowledge that the first part of the quote was from Hollywood legend Errol Flynn, and that the second part was from Italian actor and director Luciano De Crescenzo.
But since then, rumors about the suspected drug dealer, now 41, have turned into a frenzy.
Sangha was one of five people charged Thursday in connection with the death of Perry, 54, who was found face-down on the edge of a heated swimming pool at her Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, 2023.
The cause of his death was an accidental overdose of ketamine, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The hallucinogen has become increasingly popular in recent years as an off-label treatment for depression, but experts say it can be addictive and should only be used in controlled environments. The hallucinogenic anesthetic has also become popular as a party drug.
Sangha is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining a drug facility, one count of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, one count of possession of ketamine with the intent to distribute and five counts of selling ketamine.
Sangha, who lives in North Hollywood, pleaded not guilty Thursday, but a judge ordered him held without bail as a flight risk.
When he appeared in court he wore large round glasses and a loose-fitting bright green Nirvana T-shirt, a far cry from the glamorous globetrotting image he often displays on Instagram and other social media platforms, where he often posts pictures of his vacations in sun-soaked resort cities such as Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Records show Sangha was listed as “chief financial officer” of a salon called Stiletto Nail Bar in Studio City until the salon closed.
Mark Geragos, an attorney with the law firm representing Sangha, said he believes prosecutors went too far in charging him and the other defendants.
“Just because it’s a tragedy doesn’t mean it’s a criminal act,” Gov. Geragos said Thursday on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.” “I’m not looking at this as a criminal case.”
“I understand that people want to hold people accountable,” he added, “but I think it’s going to be very difficult to hold people accountable.”
Of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death, two have pleaded not guilty and three others, including the actor’s personal assistant, have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty.
Past drug charges
Sangha was arrested in March in a separate federal drug case and accused of being a “prolific drug dealer.” She had been free on $100,000 bail when she was arrested Thursday and charged in Perry’s death, according to court records.
Before he was taken to the Metropolitan Jail, Sangha looked directly at reporters covering the hearing in court and then appeared to look back at someone in the gallery, who was not immediately known.
What is clear, prosecutors say, is that if Sangha is convicted of all charges in the Perry case, he faces 10 years to life in federal prison.
Dependable
In their federal indictment, prosecutors described how Sangha became embroiled in one of the most high-profile celebrity drug overdose deaths in recent years.
Federal investigators say that in October 2023, Eric Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry’s who pleaded guilty to drug charges in Perry’s death, began contacting Sangha seeking a supply of ketamine.
Over a two-week period, Sangha allegedly sold about 15 vials of ketamine to Perry’s intermediary for about $11,000 in cash, according to federal prosecutors.
After Perry’s death, Sangha texted Fleming, asking him to “delete all our messages,” according to prosecutors.
Then, about two weeks after his star’s death, Sanga posted a highlight video of himself in Tokyo on Instagram.
Sangha, a dual citizen, was born in the UK and raised in the US.
After graduating from high school, she went to the University of California, Irvine, where she earned a degree in social sciences in 2005 and went on to work for Merrill Lynch, according to a university spokesperson.
Five years later, Sangha moved to London and earned an MBA from Hult International Business School in 2010, a spokesman said.
After that, the details of the Sangha’s life become difficult to trace.
Life in a “drug store”
But federal prosecutors said Sangha had been selling ketamine and other drugs “since at least 2019” and used his home as a “stash house.”
According to court documents, investigators who searched Perry’s residence after her death found “evidence of drug trafficking,” including 79 vials of ketamine and 3.1 pounds of “orange pills” containing “methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine and believed to be fraudulently obtained prescription drugs.”
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Thursday that he had found “the equivalent of a downtown drug sales district.”
Sanga’s phone also contained video files related to drug trafficking, Estrada added, including one in which a voice recognizable as Sanga describes “cooking” ketamine in a pot on a stove, turning it into a powder.
Authorities say she knew ketamine could be deadly.
According to prosecutors, in August 2019, an Alaska man overdosed on ketamine allegedly provided by Sangha. Afterward, one of the man’s relatives texted Sangha: “The ketamine you sold to my brother is what killed him,” the text read. “That’s listed as the cause of death.”
Prosecutors said Sanga then typed the question “Could ketamine be listed as a cause of death” into Google.
