Two Re-Entry Non-Profit Leaders in Tennessee and Massachusetts Accused of Criminal Charges
On August 27, 2025, DeAndre Brown, the executive director of the Shelby County Office of Reentry, was arrested after being indicted by a grand jury on 12 felony charges related to the alleged misuse of more than $625,000. DeAndre Brown and his wife, Vinessa Brown, led the nonprofit Lifeline to Success, a Memphis, Tennessee-based non-profit that ostensibly provides re-entry services for former prisoners. According to an investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s office, the Browns used the funds—around half of which were appropriated from government grants—on personal expenses, such as a trip to Jamaica and season tickets for the Memphis Grizzlies. Brown additionally diverted more than $84,000 to Lifeline to a Dying World Ministries, a church that he founded and served as pastor for. As of this writing, DeAndre Brown was being held on a $500,000 bond, while Vinessa Brown, who was also indicted, was released on her own recognizance.
In a separate incident, the founder and CEO of a different re-entry support non-profit was indicted by a federal grand jury for drug charges on September 18, 2025. Prior to his arrest, Javan Tooley, 36, helmed Adapt & Evolve LLC, a Boston-based legal advocacy firm that specialized in expunging criminal records, The Boston Globe reported. Tooley, who had previously been locked up for five years for distributing cocaine, allegedly sold 100 grams of crack cocaine from his car in Dorchester, Massachusetts; he was also, according to prosecutors, found with 160 grams of crack upon being apprehended two weeks later. According to the Massachusetts’ U.S. Attorney’s Office, as a result of Tooley’s prior 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.
Additional sources: WCVB 5, Action News 5
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