Founder and CEO of Non-Profit for Re-Entry Support Services Indicted on Drug Distribution Charges

BOSTON - The founder and CEO of Adapt & Evolve LLC, a Boston-based non-profit organization that purports to provide community re-entry support services, has been arrested and charged for allegedly distributing cocaine base (crack cocaine). According to court filings, the defendant has an extensive track-record of drug trafficking and other criminal conduct - including engaging in sex trafficking activity as well as a prior federal conviction for drug trafficking.

Javan Tooley, 36, of Dorchester and Brockton, Mass., was indicted on Sept. 18, 2025 by a federal grand jury for distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base. Tooley was arrested on Sept. 23, 2025 and, following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, was ordered detained pending a hearing scheduled for Sept. 26, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.

In 2010, Tooley was convicted in U.S. District Court in Boston of distribution of cocaine, following a hand-to-hand sale of crack cocaine to undercover law enforcement. He was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for the conviction. According to court filings, following his release from federal prison in or around 2015, Tooley violated of the terms of supervised release on at least five separate occasions. As a result, Tooley was sentenced to serve approximately 22additional months of incarceration.

Additionally, according to court filings, Tooley allegedly targeted and recruited women, many of whom suffered from substance abuse disorders, to engage in commercial sex for his financial benefit and to distribute controlled substances for him. It is alleged that Tooley targeted his victims with acts of violence and provided victims with access to drugs. It is also alleged that Tooley created a climate of fear among the victims by claiming that he had connections to law enforcement and other powerful and influential officials through his non-profit. Tooley also allegedly coordinated drug transactions using the non-profit's phone.

It is alleged that on Sept. 10 2025, Tooley distributed 100 grams of crack cocaine near Fields Corner in Dorchester, just a short distance away from Tooley's non-profit Adapt & Evolve. Tooley is alleged to have distributed the drugs in his car, while a young child - approximately six or seven years old - was in the back seat.

Following the transaction, Tooley allegedly contacted a cooperating witness again stating that he had additional crack cocaine to sell and arranged to meet again on Sept. 23, 2025, at an area near the Roxbury District Court. Tooley was taken into custody upon his arrival and allegedly found in possession of approximately 160 grams of crack cocaine.

Because of Tooley's prior federal drug trafficking conviction, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least eight years of supervised release and a fine of $8 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; and Arlington Police Chief Juliann Flaherty made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Fogerty of the Human Trafficking & Civil Rights Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Pohl of the Narcotics &Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.