Actor Matthew Perry’s resident assistant has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in supplying the ketamine that contributed to the star’s fatal overdose death in 2023, ending a key chapter in the case.60-year-old Kenneth Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. He was sentenced in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday and will serve two years of supervised release and pay a $10,000 fine.Perry was found dead in the backyard hot tub of his Los Angeles home in October 2023. Medical officials later ruled his death was due to the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning listed as a contributing factor.Iwamasa had no medical training and injected Perry with ketamine and worked alongside two doctors to supply the actor with more than $50,000 worth of the drug in the weeks before his death. He admitted to giving the injections repeatedly, including multiple doses on the day Perry died.During sentencing, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said Iwamasa knew about Perry’s addiction and that he concealed evidence after the actor’s death.
In court, Iwamasa addressed Perry’s family directly.“I’m so sorry to all of you. I’m so sorry that I committed illegal acts that I will regret forever. I will take them to my grave,” he said.“I hope I serve as a cautionary tale for someone in my position to make better choices,” he added.He also said he was “so sorry, so terrible” and offered his condolences to the family.Prior to sentencing, Perry’s family provided victim impact statements.
“I have no sympathy for Kenny Iwamasa,” his sister Caitlin Morrison wrote, accusing him of abandoning Perry in a vulnerable state. Another sister, Madeleine Morrison, said she believed he was “more guilty” than the other defendants in the case.Their mother, Susan Morrison, said it was Iwamasa’s responsibility to support her son through addiction recovery, but instead he allowed him to use drugs. “We trusted a man without conscience, and my son paid the price,” she wrote.The case is a small part of the network accused of supplying Perry with ketamine. Many of the defendants exploited his addiction for profit.Several others have already been sentenced. Los Angeles resident Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen,” was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Dr. Salvador Plasencia was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Dr. Mark Chavez received house arrest and supervised release. Another defendant, Eric Fleming, was sentenced earlier this month to two years in prison.All five defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to related charges.
