Newington Man Sentenced For Distributing Counterfeit Opioid Pills
Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 2:45 P.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BRIDGEPORT, CT.- Last Thursday, a 39-year-old Newington, Connecticut, man, and a known New Haven, Connecticut, counterfeit pill distributor learned he will be spending over the next decade in federal prison, after being sentenced for trafficking narcotic pills and violating the terms and conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.
According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, on Thursday, July 3, 2025, Kyle Petersen, 39, of Newington, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Kari A. Dooley to 138 months in federal prison for his previously entered guilty plea to a federal drug trafficking offense while on federal probation.
According To Court Documents
According to court documents and statements made in this District Court, in May 2023, investigators from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad launched an investigation into suspicious packages being delivered to Petersen’s residence in Newington, Connecticut. At the time, Petersen was serving a term of federal supervised release after being convicted in 2017, involving the distribution of fentanyl and prescription pills.
During the investigation, Federal Agents obtained and executed a court-authorized search of a package addressed to Petersen. During the search, Investigators found that the package contained more than 400 grams of pills containing Protonitzene, a synthetic opioid far more lethal than fentanyl. The investigation also uncovered that Petersen had received around 34 similar packages mailed from the same source in Michigan, and also received around 46 packages from California and Oregon, suspected to have contained multiple pounds of marijuana. Investigators also made controlled purchases of counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl from Petersen and his brother, Erik Petersen.
Kyle Petersen Was Charged On April 3, 2024, With His Brother Erik
Kyle and Erik Petersen were arrested on federal criminal complaints on April 3, 2024. On that date, a search of Kyle Petersen’s residence revealed more than a kilogram of counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, counterfeit Xanax pills, a large quantity of Protonitazene, approximately 40 grams of cocaine, and $76,650 in cash.
Petersen, who has remained in custody since April 3, 2024, when he and his brother, Erik Petersen, were arrested and charged on federal criminal complaints, appeared in Federal Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 2, 2025, and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Quantities of Cocaine, Fentanyl, and Protonitazene.
During his April 2, 2025, plea allocution in addition to pleading guilty to the charge, Petersen agreed to forfeit the seized cash from his residence, an additional $57,530 in cash seized from a bank account, and his 2014 Porsche Cayenne.