Matthew Perry’s assistant has confessed to administering the late Friends star the ketamine that killed him, prosecutors said Thursday.
Iwamasa now faces up to 15 years in prison, following a raid that also led to charges against four other suspects, including a Los Angeles doctor who supplied the deadly drug to Perry.
Last November, DailyMail.com revealed that Iwamasa lived with Perry and worked as his assistant until his death.
The Justice Department said Iwamasa administered ketamine to Perry on the day he died, Oct. 28, 2023.
California prosecutors announced Thursday that Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake, pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death.
The aide “admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including administering multiple injections to Perry on October 28, 2023 – the day Perry died,” the DoJ said.
Matthew Perry had an aide and caregiver at his home, 59-year-old Kenny Iwamasa (pictured together in August) admits giving the late Friends star the ketamine that killed him. He “admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections on Perry on October 28, 2023 – the day Perry died,” the DoJ said
Perry had returned to his recently renovated home and was enjoying his hot tub when he suddenly passed away on October 28
They also charged Jasveen Sangha, 41, whom they called the “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood; doctor Salvador Plasencia, 42, of Santa Monica; Eric Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne; and doctor Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego.
Police accessed text messages from the two doctors in which they made plans to sell ketamine to Perry. The messages read: “I wonder how much this idiot will pay” and “Let’s find out.”
Plasencia is accused of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
According to his LinkedIn account, Iwamasa had been handling Perry’s affairs for more than 25 years
Sangha, who holds dual British and American citizenship, is charged with a series of offences, including maintaining a drug house, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records relating to the federal investigation.
Fleming admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry. On August 8, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Fleming admitted that four days before Perry’s death, he had received 25 vials of ketamine from Sangha and given them to his assistant Iwamasa.
Prosecutors said Dr. Chavez admitted selling the drug to Plasencia and obtaining it “by making false statements to a ketamine wholesaler and by submitting a fraudulent prescription in the name of a former patient, without that patient’s knowledge or consent.”
Just two months before his shocking passing and a few days after his 54th birthday, Perry and Iwamasa were spotted shopping at the Nike store at The Grove in LA
DailyMail.com can reveal that the Friends star and Iwamasa lived in a Beverly Hills home for just over a year, paying $49,000 a month, while his Pacific Palisades home was being renovated
Perry lived with Iwamasa in a Beverly Hills hideaway until a few weeks before his untimely death, DailyMail.com reveals.
According to sources close to the star, he was the one who found Perry’s lifeless body in the hot tub of his recently renovated home on October 28.
The actor had been renting a three-bedroom hilltop home overlooking Beverly Hills and the ocean for $49,000 a month for more than a year while his $6 million Pacific Palisades home was being renovated.
He lived in the rented house with Iwamasa, an executive secretary who managed Perry’s affairs for more than 25 years.
The home’s landlord, John Malakzad, identified Iwamasa as “an individual who lives with Perry and keeps an eye on him.”
Iwamasa was photographed driving Perry, 54, through Los Angeles to run errands and leaving his Beverly Hills home in the morning, according to photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.
The Friends actor had retreated to his renovated Pacific Palisades home less than a month ago when he was found dead by a “personal assistant.”
It is believed that Iwamasa, his personal assistant, is the one who found his body.
Earlier this year in February, Perry was spotted outside the Beverly Hills estate having furniture delivered to the secret hideaway
The actor has been spotted regularly in the house since October 2022
Aerial photos show Perry’s pool and hot tub at his $6 million Pacific Palisades home, where he was found dead late last month at age 54.
Iwamasa wrote on his LinkedIn page that he worked as an “executive assistant” to Perry’s manager Doug Chapin.
Some of his roles he lists: ‘Worked for 25 years (currently) as an executive assistant to a personal manager for client Matthew Perry (‘Friends’; actor-writer-producer).’
“I thrive in chaotic situations that require order,” he adds. “I am discreet, loyal and respect absolute confidentiality.
‘I love deadlines, contracts, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s and solving difficult situations and projects.’
Just two months before his unexpected death and a few days after his 54th birthday, Perry and Iwamasa were spotted shopping together at The Grove in LA, DailyMail.com reported at the time.
A relative of Iwamasa who lives in Los Angeles confirmed to DailyMail.com that the aide had been living with Perry in recent months, though the relative had not spoken to Iwamasa since the actor’s death.
In Perry’s last Instagram post, he was photographed enjoying the hot tub overlooking his seaside neighborhood on a moonlit night on Oct. 23, five days before his death.
“Oh, so warm, swirling water makes you feel good?” he captioned the post.
Perry’s autopsy report listed “the acute effects of ketamine” as the cause of death.
The report found he had high levels of the sedative in his blood, likely passed out and slipped underwater in his hot tub.
“Contributing factors to Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid addiction),” the Los Angeles County coroner said in a statement. “The cause of death was ruled accidental.”
First responders on the scene revealed that when Perry was found by his assistant, he was underwater. The assistant lifted his head in a desperate attempt to give him some air.
By the time Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at his Pacific Palisades home, the actor was already dead.
This happened after a 15-second call came in revealing the moment his assistant called 911 to report a possible cardiac arrest.
Perry has been open about his past problems with alcohol and drug abuse, but said in recent interviews that he was clean and sober.
Perry wrote in his memoirs, published last year, that he had spent $9 million trying to get sober, attended 6,000 AA meetings, been to rehab 15 times and been to detox clinics 65 times.
Emergency services reportedly found antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications in the building, but there were no traces of illegal drugs.