Matthew Perry's Assistant Is One of Several People Arrested in Connection With His Death
Matthew Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa had been illegally injecting the actor with ketamine for weeks.
Published Aug. 15 2024, 2:21 p.m. ET
On Aug. 15, 2024 the Department of Justice announced that five people had been charged in connection with actor Matthew Perry's death. He died of a ketamine overdose on Oct. 28, 2023 and was found floating in his hot tub. Due to the high amounts of ketamine in his system, the Los Angeles Police Department as well as the Drug Enforcement Agency launched an investigation.
According to court documents, two of the five defendants are doctors, two were street drug dealers, and one was a person the actor knew very well. Matthew Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was the person who injected the fatal dose into Perry's system. Details of the arrests explained here.
Matthew Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has been charged in connection with his death.
Iwamasa, 59, was Perry's live-in assistant at the time and was tasked with obtaining ketamine for the Friends star. He contacted Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who then reached out to Dr. Mark Chavez because he formally ran a ketamine clinic. Plasencia distributed ketamine to Iwamasa and taught him how to inject the drug into Perry. It should be noted that Plasencia was aware that Iwamasa had no formal medical training.
This was happening during September and October 2023, but by the end of October, Iwamasa was in touch with street dealers. Jasveen Sangha was known as The Ketamine Queen and was selling Iwamasa drugs through her lackey, Eric Fleming. "After discussing prices with Iwamasa, Fleming coordinated the drug sales with Sangha and brought cash from Iwamasa to Sangha’s stash house in North Hollywood to buy vials of ketamine," per the DOJ.
Iwamasa was able to successfully inject Perry with the drugs he bought from Fleming and Sangha using what he was taught by Plasencia. On the day of Perry's death, Iwamasa injected him multiple times with ketamine purchased from Fleming and Sangha. When news of the actor's death broke, Sangha texted Fleming, “Delete all our messages.”
Fleming and Iwamasa have pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Chavez has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha and Plasencia were arraigned on Aug. 15, 2024, at the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
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