The personal assistant of actor Matthew Perry, Kenneth Iwamasa, has been handed a prison sentence of three years and five months for his involvement in administering ketamine to the star. The ruling was delivered in a courtroom charged with emotion.
Iwamasa, exuding a stoic demeanor, stood before the judge dressed in a grey suit, complemented by a white shirt and a matching grey tie. His composed exterior belied the gravity of the situation as the court pronounced his fate.
The courtroom was further stirred by moving victim impact statements delivered by Perry’s stepfather, Keith Morrison, and the manager of Perry’s estate. Iwamasa seemed visibly emotional, teetering on the brink of tears, as Morrison’s poignant words resonated through the room.
The prosecution had advocated for a sentence of three years and five months, a request the judge ultimately fulfilled. Iwamasa had earlier pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death, a plea entered in August 2024. His cooperation during the investigation into Perry’s untimely demise was noted, yet it did not avert the inevitability of his sentencing.
This ruling marks the conclusion of legal proceedings related to those implicated in the circumstances surrounding Perry’s tragic death. Iwamasa is scheduled to begin serving his sentence on July 17.
In attendance at the sentencing were Perry’s mother, Suzanne, and his stepfather, Keith Morrison, who remained steadfast in their pursuit of justice for their beloved family member.
Suzanne submitted an emotional victim impact statement, reminding the court of what she saw on the tragic October 2023 night her son died. “Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny,” she said.
“Kenny’s most important job — by far — was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction. We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”
“One night he was just a body, lying all but naked on the cold damp grass of his backyard. Helicopters circled overhead, eager for a glimpse of my dead little boy,” she wrote in the letter obtained by The California Post.
“I stood out on the street in the cold and begged for a blanket to cover him. Impossible, of course,” she added.
She then described her horrific trip to the morgue to see her once vibrant son, “He had been bathed and dressed and he looked almost beautiful and somehow relieved, like a gladiator who has finally earned his rest.” Morrison wrote.
Erik Fleming, 56, had pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s overdose and was sentenced to two years on May 12.
Fleming, a former Hollywood producer and director, introduced Perry to “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha two weeks before the actor’s shocking death.
Sangha was sentenced last month to 15 years behind bars for her role in the actor’s fatal overdose.
Sangha told the court she took full responsibility for her crimes, adding she had the “rug of life ripped out” from under her.
At Sangha’s April 8 sentencing, Perry’s mother Suzanne and stepfather Keith Morrison appeared in court to address the convicted drug dealer.
“I feel bad for you, Miss Sangha. I don’t hate you. … You are a drug dealer,” Morrison told the court, fighting back tears.
He called Perry a brilliant and talented man, adding he should have “had another act.”
Mark Chavez, 55, was hit with eight months of home confinement by a Los Angeles federal judge on December 16 after he admitted in October to supplying 22 vials and nine lozenges of powerful medical anesthesia ketamine to the actor — despite knowing his struggles with drug addiction.
Dr Salvador Plasencia, 43, who was sentenced to two and a half years on December 3 for his role in Perry’s overdose.
Plasencia told Chavez how he once injected Perry “in the back seat of a car parked at a public parking lot of an aquarium in Long Beach, Calif.,” and Chavez “reprimanded Plasencia” for “dosing him” in a public place where kids were, prosecutors wrote.
