Matthew Perry‘s former live-in personal assistant was arrested in connection with the star’s death earlier this week.
Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
Perry, 54, died last October in the hot tub of his rented home overlooking Beverly Hills after Iwamasa administered several ketamine injections to Perry.
Iwamasa was Perry’s assistant since 1994 and was frequently seen out and about with the Friends actor. He is now facing 15 years behind bars.
His LinkedIn profile says: ‘I thrive in chaotic situations which call for order. I am discreet, loyal and honor absolute confidentiality.’
Kenneth Iwamasa, seen here with Perry, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death
Prosecutors also say that Iwamasa did not have any medical training or specific knowledge of how to administer controlled substances
It continues: ‘I love deadlines, contracts, dotting i’s and solving puzzling situations and projects.’
According to authorities, Iwamasa communicated in code alongside others charged in connection with Perry’s death to obtain ketamine.
Matthew Perry died in October 2023
Prosecutors also say that Iwamasa did not have any medical training or specific knowledge of how to administer controlled substances.
It was Iwamasa who found Perry unresponsive in his hot tub, with his cause of death later determined to be ‘the acute effects of ketamine’.
On October 4 Iwamasa reported that he had successfully injected Perry, noting that he ‘found the sweet spot but trying different places led to running out’ of ketamine.
The indictment says that Iwamasa administered at least 27 shots of ketamine to Perry during the last few days of his life, including three that prosecutors allege killed him.
Perry had another assistant, Briana Brancato, who had worked for the actor for seven years But left to become a personal trainer a few months before his death.
Five people, including two doctors, Iwamasa, and an alleged drug dealer known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’, have been arrested in connection Perry’s death.
The suspects were apprehended on Thursday over claims they are part of a ‘broad underground criminal network’ that supplied him with the ketamine.
Doctors Salvador Plasencia, 42, and Mark Chavez, 54, alleged drug dealers Jasveen ‘Ketamine Queen’ Sangha, 41, and Eric Fleming, 54, and Iwamasa, 59, have all been charged.
It was Iwamasa who found Perry unresponsive in his hot tub, with his cause of death later determined to be ‘the acute effects of ketamine’
Perry had recently moved back into his newly refurbished home and was enjoying his hot tub when he died suddenly on October 28
Prosecutors say the group preyed on the vulnerable star’s addiction issues, with the doctors even referring to him as a ‘moron’ in cruel texts where they discussed how to further exploit him.
Prosecutors claim that Sangha’s distribution of the substance on October 4, 2023 led to his death.
Sangha had thousands of pills and kilograms of powder in her ‘drugs emporium’ home, photos published by prosecutors reveal.
Federal law enforcement raided her home in March and recovered the incriminating evidence – along with text messages about selling ‘double strength’ ketamine.
In a press conference, US attorney Martin Estrada described Perry’s steady descent into ketamine addiction, which started with him obtaining the controlled substance through doctors, before eventually resorting to street vendors.
An explosive indictment alleges that the defendants made tens of thousands of dollars by selling the narcotic to the troubled star.
Doctor Salvador Plasencia, 42, has also been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine
In one instance, Plascenica worked with Chavez to charge Perry $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost $12, after he became increasingly desperate to get his hands on the drug, according to the filings.
The doctors allegedly used Iwamasa to distribute approximately 20 vials of ketamine to the actor over a two-month period from September to October 2023 ‘in exchange for 55,000 dollars’.
Text messages between them show them conspiring to supply Perry, with Plasencia insisting that he wants to be the star’s ‘go to’ for the narcotic, the indictment shows.
If convicted of all charges, Sangha could face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Plasencia could face up to 10 years in federal prison for each ketamine-related count and up to 20 years in federal prison for each records falsification count.
Iwamasa and Fleming will face up to 15 years and 25 years, respectively, when they are sentenced in their federal cases.
Jasveen Sangha, 41, is better known as the ‘Ketamine Queen’ of north Hollywood. Prosecutors say she is the lynchpin for a ‘broad underground criminal network’ which supplied the Friends star the ketamine that killed him in October 2023
Investigators said they discovered a ‘drugs emporium’ at the home of Sangha during a raid in March 2024
Chavez has been charged in an information pursuant to a plea agreement and will be arraigned on August 30. At sentencing, Chavez will face up to 10 years in federal prison.
Perry had been receiving prescribed ketamine therapy to treat anxiety and depression. But he had not had one of those treatments for a week-and-a-half prior to his death.
That means the ketamine found in his system after he drowned had not been prescribed. The amount in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.
It was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected, the report said.
The actor had been open about his struggles with substance abuse. In 2022, he said he estimated he had that spent $9 million battling his addictions across 15 rehab stays.