‘Monster who killed him’: Matthew Perry’s former assistant gets more than three years in prison
*This news story using aggregated Gemini AI content. The original Report from an LA TIMES news report/story with above heading dated Thursday 27 May,2026
LOS ANGELES — Thursday 28 May 2026
The sweeping federal investigation into the black-market drug network that caused the death of Friends star Matthew Perry concluded in a downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Wednesday. Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s former live-in personal assistant, was sentenced to 41 months (three years and five months) in federal prison for his central role in the actor’s fatal ketamine overdose.
Iwamasa, 61, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Prosecutors proved that despite having absolutely no medical training, Iwamasa repeatedly injected the 54-year-old actor with massive doses of the powerful anesthetic, including the lethal shots administered on October 28, 2023—the day Perry was found face-down in his Pacific Palisades hot tub.
A Devastating Betrayal of Trust
The nearly three-hour sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett exposed the dark dynamics inside the actor’s home during the final weeks of his life. Once paid a lucrative $150,000 salary a year and treated “like family,” Iwamasa was condemned by Perry’s loved ones for enabling a severe, escalating addiction to maintain control over the celebrity’s multi-million dollar lifestyle.
In a searing victim impact statement, Lisa Ferguson, Perry’s longtime business manager and estate executor, looked directly at the defendant and did not hold back:
“You wanted control—control over Matthew and everything he owned. What you are is the monster who killed him.”
Ferguson further revealed that Iwamasa had systematically driven away sober-living companions, medical staff, and family members to isolate the actor. She noted that after discovering Perry’s body, Iwamasa called the celebrity gossip site TMZ before alerting the family, and later had the audacity to demand a three-year severance package from the grieving estate.
Ignoring the Red Flags
Federal prosecutors painted a chilling picture of reckless disregard, establishing that Iwamasa helped Perry surreptitiously purchase 71 vials of ketamine through rogue doctors and street dealers using coded language like “Dr Pepper.”
In the three days leading up to the tragedy, Iwamasa injected Perry between six and eight times a day. Court documents revealed that Iwamasa had found Perry completely unconscious at least twice earlier that month and had watched him “freeze up” and lose the ability to speak following an injection—yet he continued to administer the drug.
Perry’s stepfather, veteran Dateline broadcast journalist Keith Morrison, spoke inside the courtroom on behalf of the family, rejecting the defense’s argument that a severe “celebrity-assistant power imbalance” left Iwamasa unable to say no.
“You could have made the phone call,” Morrison told Iwamasa from the stand. “But you were living a pretty dandy life… living like a king.”
The Final Domino Falls
Before his sentence was handed down, Iwamasa turned to face Perry’s family in the gallery, stating: “I’m so sorry to all of you. I’m just so sorry to have done illegal acts I will forever regret. I will take that to my grave.”
Judge Garnett rejected the defense’s request for a lenient sentence of just six months of incarceration, telling the defendant flatly, “Your conduct was reckless, not just on the day of his death, but on the days leading up to it.” Along with his 41-month prison sentence, Iwamasa was ordered to serve two years of supervised release and pay a $10,000 fine.
Iwamasa’s sentencing formally brings the multi-target federal sweep to a close, capping off a definitive list of convictions against the syndicate that exploited Perry’s vulnerability:
| Defendant | Role in Syndicate | Final Sentence |
| Jasveen Sangha | Street Dealer (“The Ketamine Queen”) | 15 Years in Federal Prison |
| Dr. Salvador Plasencia | Rogue Physician / Supplier | 30 Months in Federal Prison |
| Kenneth Iwamasa | Personal Assistant / Injected Fatal Dose | 41 Months in Federal Prison |
| Erik Fleming | Middleman / Drug Broker | 2 Years in Federal Prison |
| Dr. Mark Chavez | Defrauded Wholesale Distributors | 8 Months Home Detention / Supervised Release |
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This case exposes the predatory “shadow economy” that routinely forms around Hollywood’s elite. When an assistant switches roles from a guardian to a drug supplier just to preserve a $150,000 lifestyle, it isn’t an “imbalance of power”—it is a catastrophic failure of human conscience.
Does Hollywood do enough to protect vulnerable talent from their own enablers? editor@sydneytimes.net.au
