Personal assistant who injected Matthew Perry with ketamine jailed for over three years

Kenneth Iwamasa’s case has drawn sympathy from some Hollywood insiders, who characterised the relationship between a celebrity and their assistant as a stark power imbalance

Matthew Perry had sought ketamine infusion therapy at a California clinic to treat anxiety and depression, but turned to outside sources to increase his dosage of the drug. File picture: Jordan Strauss/AP

The personal assistant who injected Matthew Perry with ketamine several times with no medical training, including on the day the Friends actor was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles residence, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison on Wednesday.

Kenneth Iwamasa, aged 61, had pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine that resulted in death or serious bodily injury. The sentence handed down to him matched what prosecutors requested.