How Responsible Is Matthew Perry's Assistant For His Death? Here's What Legal Experts Has To Say
As per recent reports, Matthew Perry was supposedly murdered but did you know whether his assistant was responsible for his death or not? Read ahead to find out.
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Months after Matthew Perry’s death, federal prosecutors arrested a group of five men on August 15, 2024. The actor’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was also one of them. As per the prosecutors, the personal assistant had administered the dosage of Ketamine to the actor which led to his death at the age of 54. He was discovered in his bathtub floating face-down.
Matthew who will always be known as Chandler from the popular sitcom Friends, was found dead in October 2023. At that time, even though his autopsy report stated that the nature of his death was ‘accidental’, he died from acute effects of Ketamine along with other factors, including drowning in the water coronary artery disease, and effects from buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder. Now, the Federal prosecutors are investigating his case once again and have declared five men were responsible for his death.
How closely is Kenneth Iwamasa tied to Matthew Perry’s death?
One of the leading media portals, PEOPLE spoke to the legal experts about Kenneth Iwamasa’s role in Perry’s death. While one said it was “least culpable”, another expert differed and said, "the most closely tied to what eventually happened." The US Department of Justice declared Jasveen Sangha aka The Ketamine Queen, and Dr. Salvador Plascencia, a licensed physician are the lead suspects in the case.
In a press release, U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada said that Sangha had sold the batch of Ketamine and while Plascencia allegedly told a patient Perry “was spiraling out of control with his addiction”, he still continued with the consumption. Estrada continued that even after he saw Matthew freezing up and his blood pressure spiking, “he left additional vials for defendant Iwamasa to administer to Mr. Perry.”
Eric Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distributing it which resulted in his death. On the other hand, Dr. Mark Chavez also agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of Ketamine. He admitted to allegedly selling the amount to Plascencia in his agreed plea. Estrada further declared in his press release that Matthew Perry had fallen back to addiction last fall. It is no secret that the actor was an addict, and he had often talked about his phases in various interviews.
What are the legal experts deducting from the case?
Authorities allege that Iwamasa might have conspired with Sangha, Fleming, and Plasencia to illegally gain Ketamine and distribute it to Perry. On August 7, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute it. As per the press release, Perry’s assistant “admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including multiple injections on Perry on the day he died.”
After studying the file, Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told PEOPLE that Iwamasa is the least culpable. He speculated, “I don’t think he is in the business of dealing drugs. I think he’s in the business of being an assistant. If your boss is a drug addict and you want to keep your job, maybe you might do it for that reason.”
Another former federal prosecutor, Mark Chutkow has a different point of view and allegedly stated that the four defendants had exploited his addiction. Iwamasa was injecting these into Perry, so it made him closely tied to what happened. Kenneth Iwamasa is going to face 15 years in prison but with his cooperating deal, he might lessen the sentence.
Now, time will tell what will happen. What are your thoughts about the new revelations regarding Matthew Perry’s death?
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