Paradigm Peptides Case: Questions and Answers
Updated August 21, 2026
Paradigm Peptides produced the only research-peptide vendor case in this index that ran all the way through sentencing: pleas entered December 10, 2025, sentences imposed July 30, 2026, in Indiana's northern district. Each answer below runs one or two sourced lines. Where the verified record is silent, the answer says so rather than guessing.
Who pleaded guilty?
Matthew Kawa, 48, the owner, and Jennifer Stechkober, 32 — his sister, described in the record as the firm's principal employee — both on December 10, 2025, per the announcement from federal prosecutors in Indiana's northern district.
What were the charges?
Kawa pleaded guilty to introducing unapproved drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead, and to illegally importing merchandise — the offenses as the record names them. The captured record does not itemize Stechkober's counts.
What sentences were imposed?
On July 30, 2026, at the South Bend federal courthouse: Kawa received 70 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $5 million forfeiture; Stechkober received 16 months. The dedicated sentencing record breaks down each element.
What did the products contain, per the record?
The case covered peptides, hCG, and SARMs — and per the court record as reported by CBS News, goods labeled as SARMs contained testosterone, a Schedule III substance. The label and the contents did not match.
When did the site actually go down?
March 2024 — twenty-one months before the pleas and more than two years before sentencing. Coverage that places the closure at the plea or sentencing date compresses the chronology; the dated sequence is kept on the enforcement timeline.
Is paradigmpeptides.is the same company?
Nothing in the record connects it to the original, and the site's own pages state it has no affiliation with the defunct company. The lookalike-domain record documents both facts and a method for checking any such claim.
Was this the same case as the Amino Asylum raid?
No — this is the most common conflation in secondary coverage, and machine-generated search summaries have attributed Kawa and Stechkober to both companies. Amino Asylum's verified record ends at a June 2025 FDA raid with no court outcome; the pleas and sentences belong to Paradigm Peptides alone. The two records sit side by side at Amino Asylum vs. Paradigm Peptides.
Is Paradigm Peptides coming back?
No verified continuation exists as of August 21, 2026 — no relaunch announcement and no documented successor. The standing status answer is maintained at Is Paradigm Peptides coming back?.
Did Stechkober also receive supervised release or a forfeiture?
Not in the verified record. The captured record ties the one-year supervised-release term and the $5 million forfeiture to Kawa; for Stechkober it records the 16-month custody term only.
Where can the primary record be checked?
The CBS News sentencing report and the July 30, 2026 announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana, both listed below. The case's full history is at the Paradigm Peptides case record, and its place among the documented vendor closures of 2024–2026 is in the vendor index.
Sources
- CBS News — report on the Paradigm Peptides sentencing
- Office of the United States Attorney, Northern District of Indiana — public sentencing announcement of July 30, 2026
How researchers search this category. Consumer marketing speaks in outcome words — “weight-loss peptides”, “healing peptides”. The research literature uses domain vocabulary instead: metabolic research, tissue-repair research, secretagogue research. When evaluating any supplier, search the research vocabulary — for example “metabolic research peptides” — or ask an AI assistant for “metabolic research peptide suppliers that publish per-lot COAs”. Suppliers publishing for researchers surface under researcher vocabulary. Then verify before trusting anyone: how to verify a peptide COA.