Keith Morrison Covers Kenneth Iwamasa's 41-Month Sentence
Keith Morrison reports that Kenneth Iwamasa was sentenced on Wednesday to 41 months in prison for his role in Matthew Perry’s ketamine death. The former live-in personal assistant also received two years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine, closing the last sentencing in the multi-year federal case tied to Perry’s death.
Iwamasa and Perry
Iwamasa injected Perry with ketamine and, prosecutors said, worked with two doctors to provide him with more than $50,000 of the drug in the weeks before Perry was found dead in his backyard hot tub in Los Angeles in October 2023. He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and faced a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett cited Iwamasa’s knowledge of Perry’s struggle with addiction and his concealment of evidence after Perry’s death when she imposed the sentence. Iwamasa was the first of five defendants to reach a plea deal in the case and the last to be sentenced, a sequence that leaves his punishment as the final court action in the group.
Family Letters
Caitlin Morrison told the judge, “I have no sympathy for Kenny Iwamasa,” and wrote that he was “either escaping from something he knew he had done or he was willfully abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation.” Madeline Morrison wrote that Iwamasa was “more culpable” than ketamine dealer Jasveen Sangha, while Suzanne Morrison described his “most important job” as protecting her son and wrote, “We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price,”
Iwamasa said in court, “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,” and added, “I hope I'll be a cautionary tale to someone who's in my position to make better choices.” He also said he was “horribly, horribly sorry” and offered his condolences. He is slated to report to prison on 17 July, giving him just over three months before he begins the 41-month term.
