Matthew Perry in 2022. (Photo: Phillip Faraone/AFP)
Kenneth Iwamasa, the personal assistant to actor Matthew Perry, was sentenced Wednesday to three years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine, which led to Perry’s death.
Iwamasa (61) is the fifth person to be sentenced in connection with the death of the former Friends-ster.
Prosecutors said Iwamasa administered ketamine to Perry more than 25 times in the days before his death in 2023, including at least three injections on the day of his death.
According to court documents, on his last day Perry told Iwamasa, who lived with him in his Los Angeles home, “Give me a big one.”
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, wrote in a letter to US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett that the family trusted Iwamasa.
“Kenny’s most important job – by far – was to be my son’s companion and protector in his battle against addiction,” she wrote.
“We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”
Iwamasa’s legal representatives argued that he was simply an employee who had to meet the demands of his wealthy employer.
According to them, Iwamasa “couldn’t simply say no”, something that had tragic consequences.
Others who have already been sentenced include Salvador Plasencia, one of two doctors who, according to prosecutors, profited from Perry’s addiction. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Matthew Perry. (Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images/AFP)
Plasencia allegedly showed Iwamasa how to administer ketamine, even though he knew Iwamasa had no medical training.
Another doctor, Mark Chavez, was sentenced to house arrest.
Erik Fleming, a certified drug counselor who acted as an intermediary to supply controlled substances to Perry, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month.
Jasveen Sangha, a British-American woman who was known as the “ketamine queen”, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month.
Perry, who plays the role of Chandler Bing Friends starred, has openly struggled with addiction for decades.
Although he used ketamine as part of guided treatment for depression, prosecutors say he became addicted to the drug by 2023.
The actor died in 2023 at the age of 54.