Matthew Perry’s assistant who injected Friends star with ketamine on day of his death is sentenced

Matthew Perry‘s one-time assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected the Friends star ‘repeatedly’ with ketamine on the day he died, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Perry passed away aged 54 in October of 2023 after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles following a ketamine overdose. The actor’s final request to Iwamasa was ‘shoot me up with a big one’ before the injection was administered.

Iwamasa, 60, was the first of the five people implicated in the actor’s death to reach a plea deal with prosecutors in August of 2024.

In addition to his 41 month prison sentence, Iwamasa was ordered to pay separate fines of $10,000 and $100, and be on supervised release for two years. 

He must surrender to authorities by 12pm on July 17 to begin his sentence.

Facing Perry’s loved ones in court on Wednesday, Iwamasa took the stand to say he was ‘horribly, horribly sorry’ for his role in Perry’s death.

Matthew Perry’s one-time assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected the Friends star ‘repeatedly’ with ketamine on the day he died, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison – pictured May 27

Perry died aged 54 in October of 2023 after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles following a ketamine overdose. Pictured April 2023 in LA 

Perry passed away aged 54 in October of 2023 after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles following a ketamine overdose. The actor’s final request to Iwamasa was ‘shoot me up with a big one’ before the injection was administered – pictured together February 2023

He said: ‘I’m so sorry to all of you. I’m just so sorry to have done illegal acts that I will forever regret. I will take it to my grave.

‘I hope I’ll be a cautionary tale to someone who’s in my position to make better choices.’

Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said Iwamasa knew of Perry’s addiction battles, and pointed to his concealing of evidence when sentencing him.

The sentencing marks the end of a more than two year legal saga, which has seen four other people in Perry’s inner circle convicted for their part in his overdose. 

Ahead of Iwamasa’s sentencing, Perry’s mother Suzanne Morrison and sisters Caitlin and Madeline submitted letters lambasting Iwamasa.

Caitlin wrote: ‘I have no sympathy for Kenny Iwamasa’ adding Iwamasa was ‘either escaping from something he knew he had done or he was willfully abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation’ when he left Perry on the night of his death.

Iwamasa had previously appealed for leniency at his sentencing hearing, claiming he could not ‘simply say no’ to the actor.

In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, Iwamasa agreed to be a key witness against others charged in relation to the star’s death. 

Perry paid Iwamasa $150,000 a year to be his live-in personal assistant and it was Iwamasa who injected the actor with ultimately fatal doses of ketamine on October 28, 2023.

He left the actor to run errands, and when he returned, found Perry dead in the jacuzzi.  

Iwamasa disagreed with prosecutors’ claim that be could have just said ‘no’ when Perry asked for ketamine, in court documents obtained by TMZ.

Facing Perry’s loved ones in court on Wednesday, Iwamasa took the stand to say he was ‘horribly, horribly sorry’ for his role in Perry’s death

Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, left, and stepfather Keith Morrison attended court for the sentencing 

Morrison also previously claimed Iwamasa ‘killed my son’; Perry is seen with sister Emily and mom Suzanne

The Friends actor was found dead face down in his jacuzzi back on October 29, 2023, leaving Hollywood shaken to its core. Pictured April 22, 2023, six months before his death

He was also accused of destroying evidence of the late actor’s drug use in the wake of his death.

Iwamasa sought to cover up proof of Perry’s drug use one hour after Perry’s death at his Pacific Palisades, California home, according to a recent filing from federal prosecutors reviewed by TMZ. 

Iwamasa pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, after officials with the Department of Justice said he ‘repeatedly’ and ‘without medical training,’ shot the actor up with lethal amounts of ketamine. 

After Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the NBC series, was found dead face down in his jacuzzi, Iwamasa got to work destroying hard copies and digital evidence involving the actor’s use of ketamine, federal authorities said in their latest filing.

Prosecutors said Iwamasa told another person to get rid of proof of the network of individuals that set up a supply chain of drugs for the actor’s personal use.

Iwamasa, a native of Toluca Lake, California, was untruthful on multiple occasions once the investigation into the actor’s passing commenced, prosecutors said in the filing.

Five people were arrested in connection with the death of the actor following a federal probe of how Perry obtained the drugs that killed him. Pictured in 2012 

Iwamasa tried to conceal that he had personally administered several shots of ketamine to Perry in the hours prior to his passing, according to prosecutors.

The assistant also falsely claimed Perry was responsible for hiding the bottles of ketamine in the home, prosecutors said in the legal filing.

A person who was called ‘B.M.’ was ordered by Iwamasa to round up the physical evidence of the actor’s drug abuse – including ketamine vials and syringes – and get rid of it immediately, according to prosecutors.

Iwamasa also told an associate that other items – such as a written prescription for ketamine, and a note linking Dr. Salvador Plasencia to Perry’s drug network – also had to be shredded, according to the filing.

He informed Erik Fleming, another associate in the network, that he ‘cleaned up the scene’ of the actor’s home after he died, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Iwamasa told Fleming that he destroyed physical evidence, changed Perry’s digital passwords and ‘deleted everything’ from computers as he sought to cover up evidence of the star’s ketamine use.

Perry’s sisters Caitlin and Madeline Morrison were critical of Iwamasa in statements submit to U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Garnett in a May 20 court filing reviewed by People.

‘It is difficult to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done,’ Madeline Morrison said. ‘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 said that ‘the idea that someone my brother considered family could betray him in such an unimaginable way is something I never could have conceived.’

Madeline said that Iwamasa’s behavior was suspicious in the wake of her brother’s passing.

‘A few days after Matthew died, my sister and I went to choose clothes for him to be buried in – one of the most surreal and heartbreaking experiences of my life,’ Madeline said. ‘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 added, ‘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.’

The sentencing comes two weeks after Perry’s drug counselor Erik Fleming was ordered to serve two years.

An emotional Fleming said: ‘It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.’

A judge ordered Fleming, who has been free on bond for about two years, to turn himself in to serve his term in 45 days. He was also sentenced to three years of probation.

This came a month after Perry’s ‘Ketamine Queen’ drug dealer Jasveen Sangha was handed down 15 years in prison, along with three years of supervised release.

Sangha pled guilty to five federal charges related to Perry’s death and has been in federal custody since her arrest in August 2024.

Fleming connected Perry to Sangha and ultimately gave her up to investigators.

The prosecutors wrote in a filing that ‘Sangha’s actions show a cold callousness and disregard for life. She chose profits over people, and her actions have caused immense pain to the victims’ families and loved ones.’ 

Sangha’s defense team argued that she has ‘acknowledged her role in serious criminal behavior’ and requested the court to consider a sentence based on time already served.

‘She does not minimize that conduct or the gravity of the consequences charged in this case,’ the lawyers added.

The sentencing comes a month after Perry’s ‘Ketamine Queen’ drug dealer Jasveen Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison , along with three years of supervised release 

Earlier this month drug counselor Erik Fleming, 56, was ordered to serve two years – pictured May 13

Perry played Chandler Bing on the NBC series Friends opposite Jennifer Aniston 

According to the US attorneys handling the case, Sangha collaborated with Erik Fleming to supply ketamine to Perry.

In the same month that Perry passed away, Sangha and Fleming sold 51 vials of ketamine to the actor, which were then handed over to Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant, prosecutors said.

Perry battled addiction for many years, a struggle that intensified during his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.

His rise to fame alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer on the iconic Friends sitcom from 1994 to 2004 was overshadowed by personal struggles. 

Perry openly admitted that his addiction issues frequently interfered with his work during those years.