Kenneth Iwamasa, the personal assistant of late actor Matthew Perry, faced sentencing in Los Angeles on Wednesday for his role in the ketamine overdose that killed the Friends star.
Federal prosecutors had requested a prison term of three years and five months for Iwamasa, who admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with lethal doses of the drug.
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The 61-year-old assistant pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury after Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his home in 2023.
The sentencing concludes a broader investigation that implicated five individuals in Perry's overdose.
Drug dealer Jasveen Sangha received 15 years, while counselor Erik Fleming was sentenced to two years.
Medical professionals involved also faced penalties: former doctor Salvador Plasencia received 30 months, and Dr. Mark Chavez was given eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release last December.
Court documents revealed that Iwamasa paid Plasencia at least $55,000 for ketamine between September and October 2023.
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In the three days before Perry's death, Iwamasa injected him six to eight times daily, despite finding him unresponsive twice that month.
Defense attorneys highlighted the intense pressure of being a high-profile celebrity assistant, arguing that Iwamasa "could not simply say no" to Perry's demands.
Iwamasa had been Perry's live-in assistant from 2022 to 2023, following a personal acquaintance spanning more than two decades.
Perry's family submitted emotional statements to the court, condemning the assistant's actions. His mother, Suzanne Morrison, said Iwamasa could have called for help but did not.
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Perry's sister, Madeline Morrison, described initially believing Iwamasa was in shock after the tragedy, but later realizing he was trying to distract from the truth: that he had injected her brother with a lethal dose and left him in the hot tub to die.
