In a Los Angeles federal courtroom on May 27, 2026, Kenneth Iwamasa learned his fate. The 60-year-old man who once served as Matthew Perry’s live-in personal assistant and closest companion received 41 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine. He will self-surrender on July 17.
This marks the final chapter in the criminal case surrounding the Friends star’s death. Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. Prosecutors had asked for exactly this term. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed it down after hearing wrenching impact statements from Perry’s family.
The man Perry trusted most became the one who enabled his final descent.
Iwamasa had known Perry since around 1992. In 2022, Perry hired him as a live-in assistant and paid him $150,000 a year to act as both companion and guardian during his ongoing battle with addiction. Instead, court records show Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with ketamine — six to eight times a day in the final weeks — after learning the technique from one of the doctors involved. He helped procure more than $50,000 worth of the drug in the weeks before Perry’s death on October 28, 2023.
On that day, Iwamasa administered a large dose. He then left to run errands. When he returned, he found Perry floating face-down in the hot tub at the Pacific Palisades home they shared. Perry had reportedly told him, “Shoot me up with a big one.”
Iwamasa had no medical training.
The courtroom revelations cut deep.
Prosecutors described Iwamasa as central to the conspiracy. He initially lied to police about the injections and ketamine use. After a January 2024 search warrant, he became the first defendant to cooperate and turned into the government’s key witness against the others.
Judge Garnett did not mince words: “You were privy to his struggle with addiction. Your conduct was reckless, not just on the day of his death but in the days leading up to his death.” She added, “Unwilling. Not unable. He could have said no.”
Defense attorney Alan Eisner argued Iwamasa worshipped Perry and operated under an extreme power imbalance, unable to refuse his boss’s demands. The judge rejected that framing.
Family members delivered the most devastating blows.
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, wrote in her victim impact statement: “Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job — by far — was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction. We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”
His sisters were equally blunt. Caitlin Morrison said she had “no sympathy” for Iwamasa and accused him of abandoning Perry. Madeline Morrison called him more culpable than the street-level dealer.
Stepfather Keith Morrison, the longtime Dateline correspondent, spoke directly to Iwamasa in court. Outside afterward he told reporters, “Angry is an understatement.” He described Iwamasa as a “talented manipulator” reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley — a man who held complete control yet chose to enable rather than protect.
Iwamasa stood in court and apologized: “I’m so sorry to all of you. I’m just so sorry to have done illegal acts that I will forever regret. I will take it to my grave. I hope I’ll be a cautionary tale to someone who’s in my position to make better choices.”
The full picture of accountability
This sentencing closes the book on all five people charged in Perry’s death. Here is how the others were punished:
| Defendant | Role | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Jasveen Sangha | Primary ketamine supplier (“Ketamine Queen”) | 15 years in prison |
| Salvador Plasencia | Doctor who supplied ketamine and taught injections | 2½ years in prison |
| Erik Fleming | Acquaintance and middleman | 2 years in prison |
| Mark Chavez | Doctor involved in supply | 8 months home detention + 3 years supervised release |
| Kenneth Iwamasa | Live-in assistant who injected Perry | 41 months in prison + 2 years supervised release + $10,000 fine |
Why this case still resonates in 2026
Perry spent decades in the public eye fighting substance abuse while delivering some of television’s most iconic performances. The people paid to protect him instead fed his addiction for profit and misplaced loyalty. The sentencing brings legal closure, but the emotional wound remains raw for millions who watched Perry grow up on screen and rooted for his recovery.
Fans have flooded social media with tributes and renewed calls for better oversight of high-profile addiction cases. The details that emerged this week — the daily injections, the “big one” request, the trusted friend who found the body — have reignited conversations about exploitation, power dynamics, and the limits of loyalty when someone is in crisis.
Iwamasa will spend the next three-plus years behind bars. The five defendants have all been held accountable. For Perry’s family and for the fans who never stopped hoping he would win his long fight, today’s sentence brings a measure of justice — though nothing can bring back the man who made the world laugh as Chandler Bing.
