Matthew Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, is asking for some leniency at his upcoming sentencing … telling the judge he could not “simply say no” when it came to feeding Perry’s drug habit … TMZ has learned.
In new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Kenneth, who is set to be scheduled on May 27, disagreed with prosecutors’ claim he could have told the “Friends” star “no” when he asked for ketamine.
As TMZ previously reported, Kenneth is facing years in prison for securing ketamine for Matthew and even injecting him with the drug on the day he died. Matthew died on October 28, 2023, from the acute effects of the drug.
In his filing, Kenneth said he was an employee and “acted at all relevant times at [Matthew’s] direction rather than pursuant to his own discretion.”
Kenneth’s lawyer said his client’s employment relationship with Matthew perhaps “enabled him to more readily participate in the conspiracy to distribute drugs to the victim than a man on the street” … but added that “a number of proverbial men on the street did in fact participate in the same conspiracy.”
In his filing, Kenneth said prosecutors claimed he could have easily said “no” to Matthew’s requests, but rejects this, saying such “rhetoric completely elides [Kenneth’s] particular vulnerability to the relationship dynamic which he fell into with the victim.”
Kenneth summed it up by saying “he could not ‘simply say no” … and admits “[t]hat inability had tragic consequences.”
As TMZ first reported, Matthew’s mom and sister wrote emotional letters to the court slamming Kenneth for breaking the entertainer’s trust and enabling his drug habits.
