Kyle Petersen, a 39-year-old resident of Newington, Connecticut, has been sentenced to 138 months in prison for trafficking narcotic pills and violating the conditions of his supervised release. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley delivered the sentence in Bridgeport, as announced by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
The investigation into Petersen began in May 2023 when the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad started examining suspicious packages delivered to his residence. At that time, Petersen was on federal supervised release following a 2017 conviction related to fentanyl and prescription pill trafficking.
Court documents revealed that a search of a package mailed to Petersen contained over 400 grams of pills with Protonitazene, a synthetic opioid more potent than fentanyl. Investigators discovered that Petersen had received about 34 similar packages from Michigan and approximately 46 packages from California and Oregon suspected to contain marijuana. Additionally, controlled purchases of counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl were made from Erik Peterson, Kyle’s brother.
On April 3, 2024, both Kyle and Erik Petersen were arrested on federal criminal complaints. A search of Kyle’s residence uncovered more than a kilogram of counterfeit Adderall pills with methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills with fentanyl, counterfeit Xanax pills, a large quantity of Protonitazene, around 40 grams of cocaine, and $76,650 in cash.
Since his arrest, Kyle Petersen has been detained. He pleaded guilty on April 2, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine (500 grams or more), along with quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and Protonitazine. He also agreed to forfeit cash seized from his residence and bank account totaling $134,180 and a Porsche Cayenne.
Judge Dooley imposed a sentence comprising 120 months for the drug offenses plus an additional consecutive 18 months for violating supervised release conditions.
Erik Petersen pleaded guilty to related charges and was sentenced on April 29, 2025, to serve 43 months in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and local police departments in New Britain and Newington. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. Keefe.
