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.

Iwamasa’s sentencing will cap the criminal investigation into the five individuals authorities say played a role in Perry’s overdose death in 2023.

The lengthiest sentences were handed down to Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer dubbed the “Ketamine queen” for her prolific criminal enterprise, who supplied the fatal dose, and Perry’s acquaintance, Erik Fleming, the drug addiction counselor who served as a middleman in the sale. 

Sangha is set to serve 15 years in prison while Fleming is expected to spend two years behind bars.

Salvador Plasencia, a former doctor, who continued to supply Iwamasa with ketamine after Perry had an adverse reaction — over two weeks before his death — which left him mute and immobile, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. 

Another doctor, Mark Chavez, who sold ketamine to Perry, will not face prison time. Chavez was sentenced in December to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release.

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.

He “could not ‘simply say no’,” Iwamasa’s attorneys reportedly wrote in a recent court filing.

Between 2022 and 2023, Iwamasa was employed as Perry’s live-in personal assistant. The two had been acquainted for over two decades.

Perry enlisted Iwamasa's help in 2023

Perry, who had publicly shared his struggles with opioid addiction, enlisted Iwamasa’s help in autumn 2023 to procure ketamine — an anesthetic only legal when prescribed, and that can bring on mind-altering effects, including a sedated state.

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, according to federal authorities.

Prosecutors say Iwamasa paid Plasencia at least $55,000 to purchase ketamine on several occasions between September and October 2023. He also was connected to the drug via Fleming.

In the three days leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa injected the actor with six to eight shots of ketamine per day, according to court documents. Authorities say Iwamasa had found Perry unresponsive that month at least twice.

Prosecutors say Iwamasa paid Plasencia at least $55,000 to purchase ketamine on several occasions between September and October 2023. He also was connected to the drug via Fleming.

In the three days leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa injected the actor with six to eight shots of ketamine per day, according to court documents. Authorities say Iwamasa had found Perry unresponsive that month at least twice.

Guardian