A federal judge in South bend sentenced the owner of a peptide company to 70 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to selling unapproved drugs and illegally importing them from abroad. Matthew Kawa, who ran Paradigm Peptides, built the business by deceiving customers and selling products adulterated with steroids.
U.S. District Court Judge Cristal Brisco said Kawa ignored "numerous warnings" From regulators and left "an incredible trail of harm." She told him: "You focused on what you wanted to build instead of thinking about the people."
Prosecutors estimated Paradigm had approximately 54,000 unique customers across all 50 states and 80 countries. Kawa agreed to forfeit $5 million in proceeds. His sister and main employee, Jennifer Stechkober, received a 16-month sentence for her involvement.
Before its 2024 shutdown, Paradigm marketed peptides and selective androgen receptor modulators online as high-purity, American-made products labeled "for research use only." Court records showed the products were imported from China, India and elsewhere, with the company forging laboratory certificates. Government testing of six compounds designed to mimic testosterone found all contained actual testosterone, a regulated steroid. Kawa admitted in his plea that he knew the products were sold for human consumption despite the research-use disclaimer.
A customer, Dan Murphy, told the court of severe effects after using Paradigm products, including grandiose thoughts "that kind of descended into a deep paranoia." Murphy experienced cystic acne, insomnia, obsessive exercise habits and delusional beliefs leading him to contemplate suicide. A medical expert diagnosed him with steroid-induced psychosis, and independent lab testing confirmed his bottle contained testosterone. Murphy is suing the company.
The case highlight risks in the largely unregulated online peptide market, where products are often ordered and injected by users with minimal oversight. Many peptides promoted online for various health benefits lack rigorous human clinical trials and FDA approval. Healthcare attorney David Holt noted the case should serve as a warning: "I would hope it's a wake-up call for a lot of the other research-use-only companies out there because this is actual prison time."