‘Ketamine Queen’ hid drug deals from friends before jailed for 15 years, friend says
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Nicole Russo said she is still worried that Jasveen Sangha has been secretly living a double life as the “Ketamine Queen.”
On April 8, a federal judge sentenced a North Hollywood drug dealer to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to selling the ketamine that killed Matthew Perry in 2023. Russo, who was friends with the 42-year-old socialite, talked about the Investigation Discovery series “Hollywood Demons” in the episode “Doctor Feelgo.”
“I feel betrayed,” Russo told Fox News Digital. “We’re talking about someone who was a friend of mine. I didn’t know the other side of what was happening – the collaboration. And many lives were affected. He lived two lives. There was a duality in him, I think, a hidden aspect of his life. He kept that side hidden. He might have opened up to someone else. He definitely didn’t open up to me.”
‘KETAMINE QUEEN’ JASVEEN SANGHA SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FORCING MATTHEW PERRY’S STEALING.
“Ketamine Queen,” Jasveen Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the death of actor Matthew Perry. Her friend, Nicole Russo, spoke about Investigation Discovery’s “Hollywood Demons.” (Mike Pont/WireImage; Jasveen Sangha Instagram)
Russo said he first met the Sangha around 2011 through two friends. Russo’s family was involved in the music industry and “concert business,” so he crossed paths with the Sangha at festivals.
“I remember him being so sweet, young and happy,” Russo said. “I fell in love with her right away. I felt she was very mature compared to other girls, so she stood out. She wanted to be seen, but that’s what beautiful girls do. She wanted to be liked. She knew all the guys from the events. And I think we all want to fit in somewhere, right? But we connected because we were both bicultural. I’m Italian American, and we used to just click with our Indian American families.
Russo said Sangha never discussed drugs or used them openly.
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“I wouldn’t be friendly if I saw him in a state where he passed out on drugs,” Russo said. “He wanted the attention of boys, cozying up to them and going to hip parties, but nothing was ever related to drugs. Of course, there was drinking. Drinks go hand in hand at these parties. There are always guys who buy drinks or girls who get free drinks, things like that. But even then, I never saw him wasted. Now, I wasn’t there sitting and looking at everything for myself, I didn’t look at everything.”
Over the years, Russo said he noticed that the Sangha started wearing more expensive clothes, though he didn’t think much of it at the time.
“I just saw her young and becoming a woman,” said Russo.
Matthew Perry visits SiriusXM Studios in New York City on Nov. 1, 2022. The actor died on Oct. 28, 2023. (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
The women reconnected shortly before Sangha’s arrest, sharing a glass of wine at Russo’s home and talking about their families. By all appearances, it was a normal night – nothing out of the ordinary.
“I remember saying how I saw some of the high-quality pictures he just did and how good he looked,” Russo recalled. “Not long after, a scandal broke out and everything fell to pieces.”
Suzanne Morrison, mother of Matthew Perry, leaves court after a judge sentenced Jasveen Sangha to 15 years in prison for selling the ketamine that caused Perry’s 2023 fatal overdose in Los Angeles on April 8, 2026. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Perry, whose role as Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends” in the 1990s and 2000s made him one of the biggest TV stars of the time, was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023. He was 54. The medical examiner ruled out ketamine, which is commonly used, and was the cause of death in surgery.
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Lawyers Mark Geragos and Alexandra Kazarian walk outside the First Street Courthouse in Los Angeles on April 8, 2026. Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Queen of Ketamine,” was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a California court for selling drugs connected to the death of actor Matthew Perry. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
In recent years, ketamine has seen a surge as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain, reports the Associated Press. Although the drug is not approved for those conditions, doctors are free to prescribe the drug for so-called off-label use, the report said.
In Perry’s case, he was using it to treat depression. The star was receiving ketamine treatment from his doctors, but prosecutors say the actor turned to other sources when his doctors refused to give him more doses.
“I didn’t even know what ketamine was, let alone what it meant,” Russo said.
“Hollywood Demons” is hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky. The latest episode, “Surviving 16 and Pregnant,” premieres May 18 at 9 p.m. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)
Russo said she innocently commented on an Instagram photo of Sangha and her mother, only to be met with a wave of online “attacks” from strangers soon after. Confused when people started talking about Perry, he searched Sangha’s name online and found out that Sangha had been arrested.
Prosecutors say Perry illegally obtained ketamine through a network that included two doctors, his assistant and a woman they called the “Ketamine Queen.” That woman was Sanga.
Matthew Perry’s sarcastic but endearing “Friends” character Chandler Bing was among the most popular on television. (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images)
Perry’s assistant, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, injected the actor with ketamine several times, including on the day he died.
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Keith Morrison, stepfather of Matthew Perry, answers questions following the sentencing of Jasveen Sangha in United States Court in Los Angeles on April 8, 2026. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
“I wanted to scream,” Russo said. “I kept telling myself that this is not the Jasveen I know. He must have gone the wrong way to make easy money. I don’t know what he was thinking. I certainly don’t encourage it. But my first reaction was panic. It was like I lost someone by death.”
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Queen of Ketamine,” rented a home in North Hollywood to manufacture, store, and distribute controlled substances, according to the indictment. Authorities found a large amount of drugs and weapons at the residence linked to the ketamine that allegedly killed Matthew Perry. (United States Attorney’s Office)
“I was angry,” Russo continued. “He threw his life away. I didn’t know he was involved in drugs. How could he participate in a situation that killed someone? There are different ways to be a businessman.”
“I never expected him to be famous for something like this,” added Russo.
California doctor Mark Chavez leaves federal court in Los Angeles on Oct. 2, 2024. Chavez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, who died of a ketamine overdose in October 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)
Perry’s search for more ketamine than his doctor would give him led him to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who admitted to illegally selling Perry ketamine. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Days before his death, Perry also linked up with Sangha in a $6,000 buyout that included a lethal dose, the Associated Press reported.
Another doctor who admitted to giving Placencia the ketamine he sold to Perry was sentenced to eight months of house arrest.
US Attorney Martin Estrada said doctors “took advantage” of Matthew Perry by selling him large amounts of ketamine, which ended up killing him. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Prosecutors described Sangha as a “Ketamine queen” who ran a drug network that catered to high-profile clients to support a jet-setting lifestyle. “Hollywood Demons” detailed how Sangha received a text from Kimberly McLaury, the sister of one of his clients, Cody McLaury, 33, who died in 2019.
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Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Queen of Ketamine,” poses at the Davis Factor Cocktail Reception and Book Signing at Sotheby’s in Beverly Hills, December 8, 2022. (Jojo Korsh/BFA.com/Shutterstock)
“If you had stopped selling ketamine when I sent you the message, we wouldn’t be here today,” McLaury said later in court.
Perry’s stepmother, Debbie Perry, also told Sangha in court that he had caused pain to “hundreds, maybe thousands” of people.
Keith Morrison, Perry’s stepfather and a reporter for NBC’s “Dateline,” told the judge that he and Perry’s mother, Suzanne, feel “every day, sadness and grief.”
Keith Morrison, Matthew Perry’s stepfather, jumped the police tape outside Perry’s home in Pacific Palisades the night Perry died. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“There was a spark in that man that I’ve never seen anywhere else,” Morrison said. “He should have done another act. Two more acts.”
Just before he was sentenced, Sangha told the judge that he wore his shame “like a cloak.”
“These were not mistakes. They were terrible decisions,” Sangha said, “that disrupted people’s lives and the lives of their families and friends.”
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Perry was found dead in her hot tub at her home in Pacific Palisades. (Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Today, Russo said he still wonders how the Sangha lived behind closed doors — and what the opening of closed doors led him down this path.
“There are no winners here,” Russo said. “I didn’t know about Matthew Perry’s addiction problems. Here was a guy, outside, who had everything. And Jasveen had his whole life ahead of him but somehow he focused on this. They both came from good, caring families. You just wonder what makes someone so depressed.”
