Kenneth Iwamasa, a former assistant to actor Matthew Perry, has been sentenced to over three years in prison. Iwamasa was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, which contributed to the Friends star's death in October 2023.

A 41-month prison term and $10,100 in fines

Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett has ordered Kenneth Iwamasa to serve a 41-month prison sentence following his conviction for conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. According to the report, Iwamasa must also pay separate fines of $10,000 and $100, and will remain under supervised release for two years after his term ends. The 60-year-old former assistant is required to surrender to authorities by 12 p.m. on July 17 to begin his incarceration.

During the proceedings, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett highlighted that Kenneth Iwamasa was fully aware of the addiction struggles Matthew Perry faced. The judge specifically pointed to Iwamasa's attempts to conceal evidence as a factor in the sentencing,rejecting the notion that the assistant was a passive participant in the actor's drug use.

The $150,000 salary and the fatal injections in Pacific Palisades

The relationship between the actor and his assistant was one of significant financial dependence, as Matthew Perry paid Kenneth Iwamasa $150,000 a year to serve as a live-in personal assistant. As reported by the source, Iwamasa injected the actor with lethal doses of ketamine on October 28, 2023, at Perry's home in Pacific Palisades, California. after administering the drugs, Iwamasa left the residence to run errands, returning later to find the actor dead.

Matthew Perry, who was 54 at the time of his passing, was found face down in his jacuzzi on October 29, 2023. The medical cause of death was determined to be a ketamine overdose leading to drowning. This tragic sequence of events has since become the center of a federal investigation into the supply chain that provided the actor with illegal substances .

Destroying digital evidence one hour after Perry's death

Federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice allege that Kenneth Iwamasa engaged in a systematic cover-up immediately following the discovery of the body. According to a filing reviewed by TMZ, Iwamasa began destroying both hard copies and digital evidence of Matthew Perry's ketamine use just one hour after the actor's death. This effort incluedd instructing another individual to eliminate proof of the network that supplied the drugs.

The Department of Justice further claims that Kenneth Iwamasa was untruthful multiple times during the initial investigation. Specifically, Iwamasa allegedly tried to hide the fact that he had personally administered several shots of ketamine in the hours preceding the death and falsely claimed that Matthew Perry was the one responsible for hiding ketamine bottles within the home.

The five-person network behind the ketamine supply chain

The sentencing of Kenneth Iwamasa is part of a broader legal saga involving five people implicated in the death of Matthew Perry.. Iwamasa was the first of this group to reach a plea deal with prosecutors in August 2024, agreeing to serve as a key witness against the other four individuals in the actor's inner circle who have since been convicted.

This case reflects a wider pattern of scrutiny regarding the unregulated administration of ketamine in high-profile circles... By targeting the entire supply chain—from the distributors to the personal assistants administering the drug—the Department of Justice has signaled a zero-tolerance approach to the "facilitators" who enable celebrity addiction through illegal means.

Could Kenneth Iwamasa have simply said 'no' to the actor?

A central point of contention in the case is whether Kenneth Iwamasa was coerced by his employer. In court documents obtained by TMZ, Iwamasa disagreed with prosecutors' assertions that he could have simply refused Matthew Perry's requests for ketamine. Iwamasa appealed for leniency, suggesting he felt unable to say no to the actor who paid his salary.

This defense was sharply rejected by the Perry family. In letters submitted to the court, Matthew Perry's mother, Suzanne Morrison, and sisters, Caitlin and Madeline, lambasted the assistant. Caitlin Morrison wrote that she had "no sympathy" for Iwamasa, arguing that he either fled from his own guilt or willfully abandoned a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation on the night of the overdose.