Crime & justice

Matthew Perry's Assistant Gets 41 Months in Ketamine Death Case

Did Kenneth Iwamasa betray Matthew Perry's trust or was he simply complicit in Perry's own self-destruction?

MAY 28·Updated MAY 29

Matthew Perry's Assistant Gets 41 Months in Ketamine Death Case

Story

Above: Matthew Perry at the Winter TCA Press Tour in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 13, 2017. Image credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The Facts

Kenneth Iwamasa, the live-in personal assistant to "Friends" star Matthew Perry, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison on Wednesday for conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release.
Michele McPhee on X
BBC News
FOX News
Iwamasa, who had no medical training, injected Perry with ketamine multiple times on the day of his death, Oct. 28, 2023, including after Perry asked him to "shoot me up with a big one." Perry was later found dead in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home.
People
Rolling Stone
U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said Iwamasa's "conduct was reckless, not just on the day of his death but in the days leading up to his death." She also found there was "no hard evidence" he acted with malicious intent.
Los Angeles Times
CNN
Prosecutors said Iwamasa obtained more than 70 vials of ketamine for Perry over roughly a month, spending over $55,000, and injected him six to eight times per day in the final days of the actor's life. He was also accused of concealing evidence after Perry's death.
FOX News
Far Out magazine
Iwamasa was the first of five defendants to reach a plea deal and the last to be sentenced.
Michele McPhee on X
New York Post
The four other defendants sentenced in connection with Perry's death were ketamine dealer Jasveen Sangha, who received 15 years; drug broker Erik Fleming, who received two years; Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who received 30 months; and Dr. Mark Chavez, who received eight months of home detention.
Lauren Conlin on X
Far Out magazine
FOX News

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Kenneth Iwamasa was paid $150,000 a year to keep Matthew Perry sober, and instead he injected him with lethal doses of ketamine and left him to die in a hot tub. Perry's family trusted Iwamasa for 25 years, and he exploited that trust at every turn, arranging drug supplies, hiding evidence from police and even speaking at the funeral. A 41-month sentence is nowhere near enough for that level of betrayal.

Michele McPhee on X

TMZ

Entertainment Weekly

Narrative B

Matthew Perry himself demanded the ketamine, explicitly telling Iwamasa to "shoot me up with a big one" on the day he died. Perry had been actively sourcing illegal drugs through multiple dealers, dating app hookups and a whole network of suppliers, all while a nursing team was present. Iwamasa was complicit, but Perry was a grown adult who drove his own addiction with relentless determination.