Topline
Kenneth Iwamasa, Matthew Perry’s former personal assistant who prosecutors say injected him with ketamine the day he died, was sentenced to almost 3.5 years in prison on Wednesday, after previously pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death—marking the last of five people charged with crimes to be sentenced over the beloved “Friends” actor’s death in 2023.
Key Facts
California District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett sentenced Iwamasa to 41 months in federal prison, the Justice Department said on Wednesday, alongside a $10,000 fine.
Iwamasa had known Perry since the 1990s, according to prosecutors, and became his in-home personal assistant in 2022.
Perry paid Iwamasa $150,000 per year and tasked him with making sure Perry was taking his medications, despite not having any medical background or any “expertise or training in that field.”
Prosecutors say Iwamasa watched Perry “freeze up” after receiving a ketamine injection from Salvador Plasencia — a former physician who also faced charges related to the actor’s death—but still coordinated a steady supply of the drug from two other people involved, Erik Fleming and “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha.
Iwamasa also “intentionally omitted” ketamine from a list of drugs he initially provided to police that Perry was taking at the time of his death, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said he tried to “remove and destroy evidence” the actor was using the drug.
Key Background
Iwamasa’s sentence is the fifth and final sentence handed down on charges related to Perry’s death. Plasencia was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison last December after pleading guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine. Mark Chavez, another former physician, was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of probation for conspiracy to distribute the drug. Sangha, the so-called “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, was given the harshest sentence of 15 years in prison for operating a distribution network out of her apartment. Fleming, who coordinated with Iwamasa to purchase ketamine from Sangha for Perry, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month.
Surprising Fact
Perry’s family felt particularly hurt by Iwamasa’s role in his death, according to statements to the court. “Matthew trusted Kenny,” his mother, Suzanne Morrison, wrote in a victim impact statement before Iwamasa’s sentencing. “We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job — by far — was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction. His number one responsibility — ensure that Matthew remained what he wanted to be: drug free.” Perry’s sister, Madeline Morrison, said she felt “betrayal” from Iwamasa, who she said even spoke at the “Friends” star’s funeral, according to multiple outlets. “In many ways, it felt like my brother died all over again. Everything I believed about the day he died—everything Kenny told us—was a lie,” Perry’s sister wrote.
Read the full article here