Matthew Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his involvement in the “Friends” star’s death.
Iwamasa is the latest to receive a sentence in the years following Perry’s death. The former assistant previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine that later resulted in Perry’s death. Along with his prison sentence, Iwamasa faced two separate fines of $10,000 and $100 and will be on supervised release for two years following his prison stint.
Iwamasa’s attorneys pushed for six months in prison and six months house arrest while the prosecution sought 41 months in prison, three years supervised visitations, and the two previous fines. The former assistant must surrender to the authorities by July 17 to begin his sentence.
In a letter written to the court during the prosecution, Perry’s mother Suzanne Morrison said she was most disappointed in Iwamasa’s involvement in her son’s death because of the years of trust the family had place in him.
“We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job – by far – was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction,” Morrison wrote. “His number one responsibility,” was to “ensure that Matthew remained what he wanted to be: drug free.”
She added: “Kenny knew, should he feel unduly pressured, that with one phone call to any number of the people in Matthew’s orbit, reinforcements would be on the way, and his job would be safe.”
Iwamasa injected the actor with ketamine three times the day he died.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023 in his hot tub with his cause of death later being ruled due to the acute effects of ketamine.
Five defendants, including Iwamasa, “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, Dr. Mark Chavez, Salvador Plasencia, and Erik Fleming, were charged in August 2024 in connection with Perry’s death. The arrests came about after an investigation into the source of the ketamine that contributed to Perry’s passing.
