Matthew Perry's Former Assistant Kenneth Iwamasa Sentenced to Over Three Years in Prison

The final sentencing in the multi-year investigation into the drug overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry was handed down on Wednesday. A federal judge sentenced Perry's former live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, to three years and five months in prison for purchasing and repeatedly injecting Perry with the lethal doses of ketamine that killed him in October 2023.

The 60-year-old assistant was the central figure in a two-and-a-half-year federal investigation that ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of five individuals. After being charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death, Iwamasa reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and became a key cooperation witness against the remaining co-defendants. He has been ordered by the court to surrender to authorities by noon on July 17 to begin serving his sentence

Following the sentencing hearing, Iwamasa's defense attorney, Alan Eisner, expressed his client's deep remorse for his actions and offered sympathies to Perry's family. Eisner argued that Iwamasa was a devoted employee who acted entirely at the direction of Perry, but lacked the strength to push back against his employer's demands. The defense maintained that the sentence failed to fully account for a disproportionate power dynamic in the household, claiming that Perry held total agency while Iwamasa had none.

However, Perry's stepfather, Keith Morrison, strongly rejected the defense's characterization of the relationship outside the Los Angeles federal courthouse. Morrison described Iwamasa as a highly manipulative individual who actively took advantage of an addict rather than being an unwilling participant. According to Morrison, Perry's family had explicitly instructed the assistant to contact them immediately if any drug-related activity surfaced, noting they were on speed dial and could have intervened within seconds.

Morrison further stated that Iwamasa ultimately bears responsibility for the actor's death, pointing out that the level of ketamine found in Perry's system was three times the amount used to anesthetize a patient for surgical operations. Medical examiners noted the dosage would have rendered Perry unconscious within a matter of seconds, leading directly to his death shortly thereafter.

Iwamasa's sentence marks the conclusion of the high-profile federal prosecutions surrounding Perry's death. Co-defendants in the distribution network received varying sentences, including a 15-year prison term for Jasveen Sangha, known as the Ketamine Queen, and a two-year sentence for middleman Erik Fleming.

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