Agent who injected Matthew Perry with ketamine sentenced to more than three years | Matthew Perry

A personal assistant who injection Matthew Perry and ketamine several times without medical training, including the day the actor Amzanga was discovered they are dying in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison on Wednesday.

Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine resulting in death or serious injury. The sentence he was given matched what prosecutors had asked for.

Iwamasa’s punishment continues a criminal An investigation into the five people that federal officials say played a role in Perry’s death in 2023.

The longest sentences were given to Jasveen SanghaA drug dealer called her the “Queen of Ketamine” because of her extensive criminal activity, which provided the lethal dose, as well as Perry’s friend, Erik Fleming, a drug counselor who worked for the drug dealer. Sangha will spend 15 years in prison while Fleming is expected to serve two years age behind bars.

Salvador PlasenciaThe former doctor, who continued to administer ketamine to Iwamasa after Perry had a severe seizure – more than two weeks before his death – that left him speechless and immobilized, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Another doctor, Mark Chavez, who sold ketamine to Perry, will not face trial. prison time. Chavez was sentenced in December to eight months in prison with three years of parole.

Iwamasa’s story had struck a chord with some people in Hollywood insiderswho portrayed the relationship between a celebrity and their agent as a serious power imbalance.

“He couldn’t just say no”, Iwamasa’s lawyers say in the near future court reservation.

From 2022 to 2023, Iwamasa was employed as Perry’s assistant. The two had known each other for over twenty years.

Perry, who has publicly shared his problems with opioid addiction, asked for Iwamasa’s help at the end of 2023 to find ketamine – an anticonvulsant drug approved only under prescription, and which can bring about mind-altering effects, including a stable world.

Perry sought ketamine infusion therapy at a California hospital to treat anxiety and depression, but he turned to external sources to increase his dose of medicine, according to government officials.

Prosecutors said Iwamasa paid Plasencia at least $55,000 to buy ketamine on multiple occasions from September to October 2023. He was also connected to the drug through Fleming.

In the three days leading up to Perry’s murder, Iwamasa injected the actor with 6 to 8 ketamine shots a day, according to court documents. Authorities said Iwamasa discovered that Perry had failed to respond twice in the same month.

In letters to the judge, Perry’s family criticized Iwamasa’s behavior.

The actor’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said the family relied on Iwamasa to help Perry stay sober. He said: “Kenny knew, if pushed too hard, that one phone call to people in Matthew’s path, encouragement would be on the way.”

Perry’s sister, Madeline Morrison, described a few days after her brother’s death, when she saw Iwamasa acting “erratic”. He said: “He repeatedly volunteered his experiences without being asked, as if he was being questioned instead of mourning the death of a friend.”

“At that time, I told myself that he was shocked, as sad as we all were.” In fact, he was trying to separate us from the truth: that he injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die.”