Matthew Perry's live-in assistant has pleaded guilty to giving the "Friends" actor with ketamine that led to his death, according to a prosecutor's announcement on Thursday. Iwamasa now faces a up to 15-year prison. The case also involves charges against four others, including a Los Angeles doctor who allegedly supplied the fatal drug to Perry.
Iwamasa had been living with Perry as his assistant until his death. The Department of Justice reported that Iwamasa gave ketamine to Perry on October 28, 2023, the date of his death. On Thursday, prosecutors revealed that Iwamasa, 59, pleaded guilty on August 7 to a charge of conspiring to distribute ketamine that killed Perry.
Killing His Loved One
The DOJ said that the assistant confessed to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without any medical training, including administering several injections on October 28, 2023, the very day Perry passed away, the Daily Mail reported.
Charges were also brought against Jasveen Sangha, 41, dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen' of North Hollywood; Salvador Plasencia, 42, a doctor from Santa Monica; Eric Fleming, 54, from Hawthorne; and Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, from San Diego.
Police discovered text messages between the two doctors discussing plans to sell ketamine to Perry. The messages included remarks such as, "I wonder how much this fool will pay" and "Let's find out."
Plasencia faces charges of conspiring to distribute ketamine.
Sangha, who holds dual British and U.S. citizenship, faces multiple charges. These include maintaining a drug-involved premises, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute ketamine, seven counts of ketamine distribution, and two counts of altering or falsifying documents related to the federal investigation.
Now Bigger Problem
Fleming has confessed to distributing the ketamine that caused Perry's death and pleaded guilty on August 8 to charges of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He admitted to obtaining 25 vials of ketamine from Sangha and delivering them to assistant Iwamasa four days before Perry's death.
Prosecutors have stated that Dr. Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He admitted to selling the drug to Plasencia and obtaining it through fraudulent means, including making false claims to a wholesale ketamine distributor and using a fake prescription in a former patient's name without their knowledge or consent.
Perry lived in a Beverly Hills hideaway with Iwamasa until just weeks before his tragic death, as revealed by DailyMail.com.
Sources close to Perry suggest that Iwamasa may have located Perry's lifeless body in the hot tub at his newly renovated house on October 28.
For over a year, Perry had been renting a three-bedroom hillside home overlooking Beverly Hills and the ocean for $49,000 per month, while his $6 million Pacific Palisades residence was being renovated.
He lived in the rental with Iwamasa, an executive assistant who had managed Perry's affairs for more than 25 years. The landlord of the rental, John Malakzad, described Iwamasa as "an individual living with Perry and monitoring him."
Exclusive photographs obtained by DailyMail.com showed Iwamasa driving Perry around Los Angeles for errands and leaving the Beverly Hills home in the mornings.
Perry had recently moved back into his refurbished Pacific Palisades house less than a month before he was found dead, reportedly by his personal assistant. It is believed that as his live-in PA, Iwamasa was the one who found him.
