LOS ANGELES – The former live-in assistant who admitted to repeatedly injecting “Friends” star Matthew Perry with lethal doses of ketamine has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s longtime caretaker, received a 41-month prison sentence in a Los Angeles federal court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. On top of the jail time, the court ordered him to pay a US$10,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release.
The sentencing closes yet another grim chapter in the sprawling federal investigation into the 2023 death of the beloved 54-year-old actor, globally adored for his iconic role as Chandler Bing.
27 injections in final days
Federal prosecutors painted a harrowing picture of Perry’s final weeks, revealing that Iwamasa—who possessed absolutely no medical training—administered the powerful anesthetic repeatedly, even after witnessing the actor suffer alarming physical reactions.
Court filings exposed that Iwamasa injected Perry at least 27 times in the mere days leading up to his death, including multiple shots on the very day he died.
The investigation also uncovered the staggering financial scale of the addiction, showing Perry had blown roughly US$55,000 on black-market ketamine in just two months.
Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in late 2023. The medical examiner later ruled the primary cause of death as the “acute effects” of ketamine, with drowning listed as a contributing factor.
The Hollywood drug ring exposed
Iwamasa is one of five individuals brought down by federal authorities in connection with the actor’s overdose. The high-profile bust targeted a predatory network of doctors and dealers catering to wealthy elite clients.
Among those sentenced in the syndicate was Jasveen Sangha, known as “The Ketamine Queen.” The North Hollywood dealer was handed a heavy 15-year prison sentence earlier this year after pleading guilty to selling the fatal dose from what prosecutors described as a literal “drug-selling emporium.”
Additionally, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, a licensed physician, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for illegally supplying the controlled substance to Perry. Another complicit medical doctor, Dr. Mark Chavez, received eight months of home detention alongside three years of supervised release.
While ketamine is legally approved as a powerful anesthetic and increasingly used in controlled settings for severe depression, experts warn it is highly volatile. Outside strict medical supervision, the drug severely impairs breathing, cardiovascular function, and consciousness—turning a therapy into a death sentence. – May 28, 2026