A San Fernando Valley man who was actor and author Matthew Perry’s live-in personal assistant was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for obtaining and repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine, including the fatal dose that ended Perry’s life in October 2023.
Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, of Toluca Lake, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also fined him $10,000.
Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death and serious bodily injury. He is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in connection with Perry’s death.
According to court documents, Iwamasa knew Perry since 1992 and became his live-in personal assistant in 2022. In this role, he was paid $150,000 per year and had various responsibilities, including coordinating Perry’s medical care and ensuring that Perry took the medication that he was lawfully prescribed by treating physicians.
Iwamasa is not a medical professional and has no expertise or training in that field. He also was aware of Perry’s long history of drug addiction. Prosecutors wrote in their sentencing position that “rather than help Mr. Perry maintain sobriety, [Iwamasa] became his enabler and drug supplier,” ultimately causing Mr. Perry’s death.
In September 2023 and continuing until Perry’s death on October 28, 2023, Iwamasa conspired with multiple people, including a physician, Salvador Plasencia, 44, a.k.a. “Dr. P,” of Santa Monica, and a drug counselor, Erik Fleming, 56, of Hawthorne, to knowingly and intentionally distribute ketamine to Perry.
Plasencia distributed 20 vials and multiple tablets of ketamine and syringes to Iwamasa and Perry and taught Iwamasa how to inject the ketamine into Perry, knowing that his conduct fell below the proper standard of medical care and that the ketamine transfers were not for a legitimate medical purpose. Plasencia charged a total of $57,000 for these efforts, even though the going price of ketamine was only approximately $15 per vial. Plasencia did not provide the ketamine that caused Perry’s death.
Iwamasa witnessed Plasencia inject Perry with a large dose of ketamine that caused the actor to “freeze up” and be unable to move or speak. Despite Plasencia stating, “Let’s not do that again,” Iwamasa already had begun arranging for a steady – and cheaper – supply of ketamine from Fleming, court documents state.
In October 2023, Iwamasa purchased 51 vials of ketamine from Fleming over the course of 11 days. Fleming obtained the ketamine from his drug source, Jasveen Sangha, 42, a.k.a. “Ketamine Queen,” of North Hollywood.
Leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that Sangha supplied to Fleming. During this period, Iwamasa witnessed Perry’s increasing addiction to ketamine. He found Perry unconscious at his residence on at least two occasions and witnessed an immediate adverse reaction following a ketamine injection where Perry froze up and was unable to talk or move. On October 28, 2023, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of Sangha’s ketamine, which caused Perry’s death.
On the day of Perry’s death, after Iwamasa called 911 to Perry’s residence, Los Angeles Police officers questioned him. When asked about what medications Perry was currently taking, Iwamasa provided a robust list of treating doctors and medications
Perry had been prescribed. Iwamasa, however, intentionally omitted ketamine from the list. When Iwamasa recounted the events leading up to Perry’s death, he provided a chronology that concealed the ketamine injections he had administered to Perry, including the third shot that Iwamasa administered just hours earlier, prior to Perry’s death.
Iwamasa also took steps to remove and destroy evidence related to Perry’s use of ketamine in the days leading up to the actor’s death. After doing so, Iwamasa contacted Fleming on the phone and told him that he had cleaned up the scene, including the ketamine bottles and syringes, and that he had “deleted everything,” according to court documents.
Anthony Chrysanthis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division, said “The unexpected and profound loss of Mr. Perry caused immeasurable suffering, not only to his family, but to his friends and fans. Their agony was only compounded by a sense betrayal and breach of trust. Iwamasa was one of five persons, whose individual actions played a role in the death of the late ‘Friends’ actor. There are people in that sphere of co-defendants, who betrayed their profession and their role of trust. This trial, this journey has been a painful one for so many. No outcome will bring Mr. Perry back. But know that the DEA remains committed to investigating and bringing to justice those who cause this level of harm.”
Sangha, Plasencia, and Fleming are serving federal prison sentences, respectively, of 15 years, 2½ years, and two years, after pleading guilty to federal narcotics charges.
Mark Chavez, 55, a former San Diego physician, was ordered to serve a sentence of eight months of home detention, 300 hours of community service, and three years of probation. He pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez operated a ketamine clinic and sold the drug to Plasencia, who then distributed it to Perry.
Chavez surrendered his medical license in November 2024. Plasencia surrendered his medical license in September 2025.
The Los Angeles Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this matter.
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