NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A New Haven man has been sentenced to 151 months in prison for his role in a large-scale operation that manufactured and trafficked counterfeit pills containing synthetic opioids and other substances, federal officials announced.
Read the Drug Enforcement Administration release: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2026/11/09/new-haven-man-sentenced-more-12-years-prison-for-role-counterfeit-pill
The sentence was announced on November 9, 2026, by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Emanuel Payton, 35, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford.
Payton received 151 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, according to the release.
Payton has been detained since his arrest on September 5, 2024, officials reported.
On November 18, 2025, Payton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Counterfeit Tablets, A Garage Lab, And Dark Web Sales
The investigation was led by the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to the release.
Investigators targeted the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit oxycodone, Xanax and Adderall tablets containing methamphetamine, protonitazene, dimethylpentylone, xylazine and other substances, officials reported.
Protonitazene is a Schedule I synthetic opioid that is three times more potent than fentanyl, according to the release.
In June 2023, law enforcement received information that Payton's co-conspirator, Kelldon Hinton, was using a pill press to manufacture large quantities of counterfeit pills, officials reported.
Investigators determined that Hinton purchased substances and pill press parts from China and elsewhere, manufactured pills in a garage he rented in East Haven that he referred to as his lab, sold the pills on the dark web, and mailed pills to customers around the United States, according to the release.
Between February 2023 and February 2024, Hinton shipped more than 1,300 packages through the U.S. Mail, officials reported.
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Hinton also distributed counterfeit pills to Payton and other associates in Connecticut, who sold them to their own customers, according to the release.
A Million Pills, Two Pill Presses, And A Storage Unit
Hinton, Payton and other co-conspirators were arrested on September 5, 2024, officials reported.
Court-authorized searches that day, including of the garage on Tyler Street Extension in East Haven, yielded approximately one million narcotic pills weighing nearly 100 kilograms, approximately 300 grams of cocaine, two large pill presses, pill manufacturing equipment, drug ledgers and other items, according to the release.
One of the pill presses seized was capable of producing 100,000 pills per hour, officials reported.
Payton visited the garage lab regularly to acquire hundreds of pills for redistribution, according to the release.
On September 18, 2024, a court-authorized search of a storage unit Hinton rented in West Haven revealed hundreds of thousands of additional narcotic pills weighing nearly 100 kilograms, officials reported.
A Guilty Plea, A Co-Conspirator Awaiting Sentence, And What Happens Next
Hinton pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, according to the release.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the DEA Chicago Cyber Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service and the East Haven Police Department, officials reported.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren C. Clark and Konstantin Lantsman.
What happens next is Hinton's sentencing. Anyone with information about drug trafficking activity is asked to contact the DEA or local law enforcement.
Sources
Drug Enforcement Administration, "New Haven Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Role in Counterfeit Pill Manufacturing and Distribution Operation," November 9, 2026: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2026/11/09/new-haven-man-sentenced-more-12-years-prison-for-role-counterfeit-pill
Transparency notes
Published: Nov 9, 2026. No major post-publication update has been logged.
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