Matthew Perry’s assistant sentenced over actor’s fatal overdose

The live-in personal assistant of late actor Matthew Perry was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for obtaining and repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, administered the dose of ketamine that ended Perry’s life in October 2023, according to the department. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute the drug resulting in death and serious bodily injury, and was the last of five people to be sentenced over Perry’s death. A federal judge also ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

What else do we know about Iwamasa’s role in Perry’s death? Iwamasa became the Friends actor’s personal assistant in 2022. Though he was aware of Perry’s history of drug addiction, he worked with several people to purchase ketamine for him and helped him inject the drug, according to the Justice Department.

Iwamasa continued to do so even after finding Perry unconscious at least twice and witnessing a dose of ketamine have the effect of leaving the actor unable to move or speak for some time, according to the Justice Department. Iwamasa also concealed Perry’s ketamine use from investigators after his death and destroyed evidence, according to the department.

Dig deeper: Read my prior report on the sentencing of one of the ketamine suppliers.