Indictment Charges Brothers with Trafficking Narcotic Pills

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging KYLE PETERSEN, 38, of Newington, and ERIK PETERSEN, also known as “Peach,” 43, of New Britain, with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, controlled substances.

The indictment was returned on April 15, 2024, and each defendant appeared in Hartford federal court earlier this week and entered a plea of not guilty.  They have been detained since April 3, 2024.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in May 2023, members of the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad began investigating suspicious packages that were being delivered to Kyle Petersen’s Newington residence.  At the time, Petersen was on federal supervised release following a federal conviction in 2017 involving the trafficking of fentanyl and prescription pills.  During the investigation, a court-authorized search of a package mailed to Petersen contained more than 400 grams of pills containing Protonitazene, a synthetic opioid typically more potent than fentanyl.  The investigation revealed that Petersen had received approximately 34 similar package mailed from the same source in Michigan, and also received approximately 46 packages from California and Oregon suspected to contain multiple pounds of marijuana.  Investigators also made controlled purchases of counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl from Kyle Petersen’s brother, Erik Peterson.

 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.

If convicted of the charge in the indictment, based on the type and quantities of controlled substances attributed to each defendant, Kyle Petersen faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and Erik Petersen faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of the cash seized from Kyle Petersen’s apartment, an additional $57,530 in cash seized from a bank account, and Kyle Petersen’s 2014 Porsche Cayenne.

Kyle Petersen faces additional penalties if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, which is composed of personnel from the DEA and the Bristol, East Windsor, Hamden, New Britain, West Haven, Newington, Manchester, Glastonbury, and Watertown Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Keefe.