CEDAR RAPIDS – A Minnesota man who intended to distribute pills containing fentanyl and caught driving through Iowa was sentenced on October 27, 2023, to more than four years in federal prison.
Khalil Petroske (pictured above), age 22, from St. Paul, Minnesota, received the prison term after a June 13, 2023 guilty plea to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Information disclosed at sentencing showed that, on July 23, 2022, law enforcement officers stopped the vehicle Petroske was driving. During the traffic stop, officers seized a baggie of blue pills containing fentanyl from an air vent. Petroske was arrested and, while in the back of a patrol car, Petroske removed a baggie of marijuana and a baggie containing more blue pills containing fentanyl from his pants and dropped them in the back of the patrol car. In total, Petroske possessed 30.73 grams of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. Records show Petroske was guilty with interference with official acts in Benton county and owes Iowa courts $347.50. He was also guilty of speeding, costing him $236.13, and no driver’s license, costing him $503.50. Records also show Petroske has been in jail in Worth county on a variety of crimes.
Petroske was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Petroske was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment, and he must also serve a three‑year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Petroske is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Vander Stoep and was investigated by the Urbana Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.