Matthew Perry’s assistant sentenced to prison as family reveals heartbreaking betrayal
Matthew Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison Wednesday for conspiring to distribute ketamine to the actor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the three-year sentence, United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also issued Iwamasa a $10,000 fine.
Iwamasa, 61, obtained and repeatedly injected Perry with ketamine, including the fatal dose that ended Perry’s life in October 2023.
Victim impact statements submitted by Perry’s sisters, Caitlin and Madeline Morrison, said Iwamasa was a man who “left him in a hot tub to die,” according to People magazine.
“It is difficult to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done,” Madeline wrote.
“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.”
She added, “The idea that someone my brother considered family could betray him in such an unimaginable way is something I never could have conceived.”
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Madeline remembered one of the “most surreal and heartbreaking experiences” of her life when she chose clothes for Perry to be buried in.
“I remember how manic and unsettled Kenny seemed. He repeatedly volunteered his version of events without being asked, as if he were being interviewed rather than mourning a friend,” she wrote.
“In reality, he was trying to distract us from the truth: that he had injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die.”
Iwamasa’s presence at Perry’s funeral was equally difficult for the family to process.
“Kenny even spoke at Matthew’s funeral,” she wrote. “The person responsible for my brother’s death stood up and addressed the people who loved him most. That is like a cruel joke I still struggle with. He didn’t just take my brother’s life — he tainted our final memories of saying goodbye.”
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Perry’s mother, Suzanne, wrote, “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.”
“And when he had killed my son, he kept a sharp eye on me.”
Iwamasa is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in connection to Perry’s death, with defendants including “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, Dr. Mark Chavez and drug broker Erik Fleming.
The “Friends” star died on Oct. 28, 2023, after an apparent drowning in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time. He was 54.
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Iwamasa procured dozens of vials of the dissociative drug ketamine over a span of weeks, and was responsible for performing multiple injections on the day Perry died, according to the plea agreement he made with the Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said at one point that the defendants distributed approximately “20 vials for approximately $50,000 in cash” to Perry for Iwamasa to distribute the drug to the actor.
During another sale, the dealers “took advantage of Mr. Perry” by selling approximately “50 vials of ketamine for approximately $11,000 in cash.”
Iwamasa used multiple sources to secure the drug for Perry, and purchased more than $55,000 worth of ketamine over a nearly month-long span leading up to Perry’s overdose death at his home in October 2023.
Perry was introduced to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, a ketamine source, by Iwamasa. Plasencia, who obtained ketamine from Dr. Mark Chavez, allegedly taught the assistant how to inject Perry with ketamine. Chavez previously ran a ketamine clinic and allegedly submitted a bogus prescription in the name of a former patient to secure the drug.
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Beginning on Sept. 30, Plasencia met and injected Perry with “approximately two shots of ketamine” at his home in the Pacific Palisades. He then gave Iwamasa instructions on “where to make injections” on Perry’s body before leaving behind one vial of ketamine “with liquid still remaining in it.” Iwamasa paid Plasencia approximately $4,500 in cash.
Throughout communications, Iwamasa and the accused defendants used code words to describe the drugs, including “Dr Pepper,” “cans,” and “bots” or “bottles.”
On Oct. 10, Plasencia met Iwamasa in a Long Beach parking lot, and injected Perry with ketamine while he was sitting in the back seat of a car. Two days later, Perry visited a ketamine clinic at a doctor’s office before returning to his home where Plasencia administered another “large dose” of the dissociative drug.
Plasencia claimed Perry had an adverse medical reaction, which spiked his blood and caused his body to “freeze up” so that Perry couldn’t move or talk. He allegedly told Iwamasa, “Let’s not do that again,” before leaving additional vials of ketamine with Iwamasa.
The day before Perry died, Plasencia allegedly texted Iwamasa, “Hi I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine.”
Iwamasa injected Perry six to eight times a day between Oct. 24 and Oct. 27, authorities claimed. He pleaded guilty Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
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