Connecticut Nurse Practitioner Pleads Guilty to Illegally Distributing Controlled Substances

David X. Sullivan, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Michele Rene Muzyka, a 61-year-old resident of Cheshire, has pleaded guilty to a federal offense involving the illegal distribution of controlled substances. On January 21, 2026, Muzyka waived her right to a grand jury indictment and entered her guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven.

Court records show that between January 2024 and June 2025, Muzyka, who worked as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, unlawfully prescribed amphetamines and benzodiazepines to individuals who had no legitimate medical need for them. During some office visits, she failed to perform medical examinations or verify diagnoses that would justify prescribing these controlled substances. Patients were charged $200 in cash per visit, during which Muzyka issued prescriptions for Schedule II and Schedule IV drugs.

Investigators documented that Muzyka even prescribed these substances to an undercover agent posing as a Medicaid beneficiary. Although she was enrolled as both a Medicare and Medicaid provider, Muzyka refused to accept the agent’s Medicaid insurance and instead demanded the same $200 cash payment. Despite this, Medicaid ultimately paid $287.58 for the unlawful prescriptions written for the undercover agent.

Muzyka was arrested on June 23, 2025. She has now pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, as well as the distribution and dispensing of controlled substances, offenses that carry a potential maximum prison sentence of 20 years. She has been released on a $75,000 bond while awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for April 30.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, with assistance from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s Drug Control Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine E. Boyles.

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