Two CT brothers charged with trafficking pills delivered from West Coast, Michigan

Two brothers from Connecticut have been charged with trafficking fentanyl and prescription pills, federal officials said.

A federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment on April 15 charging 38-year old Kyle Petersen of Newington and his 43-year-old brother Erik Petersen, also known as “Peach,” of New Britain with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, controlled substances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The two brothers appeared in Hartford federal court earlier this week and have pleaded not guilty.

In May 2023, the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad began investigating “suspicious packages” that were 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,” officials said.

During the investigation, over 400 grams of pills containing Protonitazene, a synthetic opioid more potent than fentanyl, were allegedly discovered during a court-authorized search of a package mailed to Kyle Petersen, according to officials.

The investigation revealed that Petersen allegedly received around 34 similar packages mailed from the same source in Michigan, as well as approximately 46 packages from California and Oregon that allegedly contained multiple pounds of marijuana, officials said.

Investigators also allegedly purchased of counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl from Kyle Petersen’s brother, Erik Peterson, according to officials.

Kyle and Erik Petersen were arrested on April 3.

“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,” officials allege.

If convicted, Kyle Petersen faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison, according to officials. Erik Petersen faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“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,” officials said.

Kyle Petersen also faces additional penalties if he is found guilty of violating the conditions of his supervised release.