Jasveen Sangha, dubbed the “Ketamine Queen,” pled guilty on Wednesday to selling Matthew Perry the drugs that resulted in his death, as reported by the AP and ABC news. Perry was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, California, on October 28, 2023. Prosecutors said that Perry bought ketamine from Sangha four days before his death. Sangha pled guilty to five federal charges, including one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10. Read on for more criminal law news.
Flying Too High. Kenneth Jouppi, a bush pilot in Fairbanks, Alaska, filed a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court last week, contending that the forfeiture of his airplane for transporting an illicit six-pack of beer is an excessive fine, as reported by Reason Magazine and local sources. In April 2012, Jouppi was preparing to fly a client 110 miles north to Beaver, Alaska, a dry community (with a population of about 80) that does not allow for the importation, sale, or possession of alcohol, when state troopers arrested him and seized the plane, which was found to contain beer. In April 2025, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the forfeiture. The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm that filed the petition with the Supreme Court on Jouppi’s behalf, contends that the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment was built for cases like this.
Stabbing Did Not Occur Inside Laundromat. James Monroe Riffe, 44, was arrested last Friday after allegedly stabbing another man at a laundromat in Waynesville, NC, per this story from the N&O. Around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Waynesville Police received a call about a fight at the Coin Laundry on Walnut Street. Two men allegedly began arguing inside the laundromat and carried on into the parking lot, where the stabbing occurred. The victim was transported to Haywood Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. The owner of the Coin Laundry emphasized that the incident did not occur at the laundromat but in the parking lot outside. Riffe is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
Man Found Dead at Burning Man. The death of a man found in a pool of blood at the Burning Man arts and music festival on Saturday is being investigated as a possible homicide, as reported by NYT and local sources. The festival, which was held from August 24 to September 1, takes place annually in the Black Rock Desert, northeast of Reno, Nevada. On Saturday night, Pershing County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a man on the ground at the event’s campsite, just as the festival’s namesake towering wooden sculpture was beginning to burn. The victim was later identified as Vadim Kruglov, 37, a Russian national who was living in Tacoma, Washington. Authorities are seeking any information that could lead to an arrest.
Prank Yields Murder Charge. Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, of Houston, Texas, was charged with murder on Monday after shooting an 11-year-old boy who knocked on his door and ran. CNN and the AP have the story. The boy, Julián Guzman, and a cousin were attending a birthday party on Saturday night when they decided to play “ding dong ditch,” a prank that involves ringing a doorbell or knocking on a door and fleeing before someone opens the door. Guzman’s cousin told investigators that they had knocked on Leon’s door several times and ran away before Leon responded with a pistol. Guzman was shot in the back and died Sunday.
Florida Man Threatens Littering Tourist. Caleb Mack, 23, of Gulf Breeze, Florida was arrested Tuesday after he pulled a gun on a woman from Alabama, according to the N&O. The victim told the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office that the altercation started when she threw a cigarette butt out of her car window in Destin, Florida. She said that when she stopped at a red light, Mack pulled up beside her, pulled out a firearm, and pointed it at her while her teenage children were in the back seat. Police stopped Mack’s vehicle and found him with a 9 mm Glock in his waist band. Mack admitted that he showed his firearm during the confrontation but denied pointing it at anyone. Mack is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
Angel of Death Arrested in California. Joshua Michael Richardson, 38, of Jemison, Alabama, has been charged with multiple felonies after threatening a California church, as reported by the N&O and the LA Times. On August 19, Richardson sent a threatening email to Saint Michael’s Abbey, a Norbertine Catholic monastery in Silverado, California, saying he was the “rider of a pale horse,” the last of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse referenced in the Book of Revelation, and that he was “sent to do the Lord’s reaping before his harvest.” A week after the church received his emails, Richarson attended an afternoon service in person, where he told a priest that he had come to do the Lord’s work, to separate the weak from the weeds, and that he had ridden his pale horse from Alabama. Two days later, Richardson was arrested in Santa Monica. During a search of his vehicle, police found body armor, high-capacity magazines, brass knuckles, and knives. Richardson was being held without bail, and his arraignment was scheduled for September 4.
Guns, Drugs, and Snakes. Police executing a search warrant found a number of dangerous animals at a home in Minnesota last week, as reported by the N&O and local sources. The search was conducted as part of an ongoing drug investigation in Deer River, northwest of Grand Rapids. The exotic animals included a boa constrictor, cobras, a green mamba, large tarantulas, and 12-inch centipedes. (The green mamba, which had been sick, has since died.) Police also seized a stolen firearm and 1.57 grams of methamphetamine and arrested two suspects. The sheriff noted the “significant threat to public safety” caused by “illegal drugs, firearms, and the presence of dangerous reptiles.”