Matthew Perry's assistant sentenced, last of 5 charged in his death

The final person charged in Matthew Perry's 2023 death has been sentenced.

Kenneth Iwamasa was sentenced to three years and five months behind bars by U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, marking the end of the criminal proceedings against five people over their involvement in the "Friends" star's overdose death.

On Oct. 28, 2023, Perry was found dead in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home following a decades-long battle with substance abuse. His autopsy report ruled his death an accident caused by "the acute effects of ketamine, with contributing factors listed as drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine.

Iwamasa was Perry's live-in assistant and had been giving him at-home injections of ketamine, a "dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects" and "distorts the perception of sight and sound," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration's website. At the time of his death, Perry had 3,540 nanograms per milliliter of the drug in his system, with the medical examiner noting that "levels for general anesthesia are typically in the 1,000-6,000 ng/ml ranges."

An investigation was launched into the circumstances of the overdose, leading to the arrests of Iwamasa, addiction counselor Erik Fleming, "Ketamine Queen" Jasveen Sangha, Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez. All five defendants ultimately pleaded guilty.

Take a look back at the legal action taken in the aftermath of Perry's tragic death.

The Department of Justice issued five criminal indictments in August 2024

Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, stated at a press conference on Aug. 15, 2024, that those who participated in Perry's use of ketamine "knew what they were doing was wrong" and "tried to cover up what they did."

"[Ketamine] is a drug that must be administered by medical professionals, and the patient must be monitored closely. That did not occur here," Estrada said.

In a separate statement at the time, then-U.S. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said that the five defendants "played a key role in [Perry's] death by falsely prescribing, selling, or injecting the ketamine."

"Matthew Perry's journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials," Milgram added.

Doctors, assistant accused of conspiring to deal drugs to Matthew Perry 'during the final weeks' of his life

After learning that Perry wanted to obtain ketamine in September 2023, California physician Salvador Plasencia contacted Mark Chavez, a doctor who previously ran a ketamine clinic, to obtain the drug for the actor. When texting Chavez about pricing, investigators said that Plasencia wrote, "I wonder how much this moron will pay" and "Lets find out."

At the end of September, Plasencia taught Perry's live-in assistant Iwamasa how to inject ketamine. At certain points over the next six weeks, Perry was receiving injections up to six to eight times per day, per the DOJ.

Iwamasa and the other co-conspirators then began to communicate about drug deals through encrypted messaging applications and coded language, which included references to bottles of ketamine as "Dr. Pepper," "cans" and "bots," according to the indictments.

On Oct. 12, two weeks before Perry died, he had "an adverse medical reaction" from "a large dose of ketamine" injected by Plasencia, causing him to "freeze up" from a spike in blood pressure that left him unable to "speak or move." Plasencia allegedly told Iwamasa, "Let's not do that again."

A text from Placensia to Iwamasa later indicated that Perry planned to take a break from using the drug, although the doctor wrote that he "left supplies with a nurse of mine" in case they wanted "to resume" use while he was out of town.

Matthew Perry received 3 shots of ketamine the day he died

On the morning of Oct. 28, 2023, investigators said that Iwamasa gave Perry a shot of ketamine at 8:30 a.m. and again at 12:45 p.m., 40 minutes before Perry asked Iwamasa to prepare the hot tub and "shoot me up with a big one." While Perry was "in or near the jacuzzi," Iwamasa injected him with another syringe of ketamine, marking the third in a five-hour period.

Perry was pronounced dead at 4:17 p.m., just 10 minutes after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to his Pacific Palisades home. They told USA TODAY in a statement at the time that Perry had been "deceased prior to first responder arrival."

Investigators ultimately determined that Iwamasa administered the deadly dose using instructions and syringes provided by Plasencia and ketamine distributed by former director and licensed drug addiction counselor Erik Fleming, who got the drug from "The Ketamine Queen" of North Hollywood, Jasveen Sangha.

According to the indictments, Sangha, who was also found to be storing and distributing narcotics like ketamine and methamphetamine out of her Los Angeles home, used an encrypted messaging app to tell Fleming to "delete all our messages."

All five people charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death pleaded guilty

Iwamasa was the first to reach a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, causing death. He has been sentenced to three years and five months followed by two years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine.

Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to five felony charges, including one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. At her sentencing, she said, "These were not mistakes, they were horrible decisions."

Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death and received two years behind bars and three years of probation. After being sentenced, he stated, "I want to do everything I can to make sure a tragedy like this never happens again. I don't want anyone to die from ketamine."

Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, along with two years' probation and a $5,600 fine. In court, he told Perry's family, "I'm just so sorry."

Chavez entered a guilty plea for one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and was sentenced to eight months of home confinement with three years of supervised release. After his sentencing, he said, "My heart goes out to the Perry family."

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Anthony Robledo, Taijuan Moorman and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY