Kenneth Sturdivant Jr., who worked as an outreach coordinator for a New Haven non-profit that provides drug users with clean needles, fentanyl test strips and Narcan, was arrested on July 23, 2025, for conspiracy to possess with intent to sell narcotics. It marks his third drug-related arrest since 2014.

The organization Sturdivant Jr. worked for is Sex Workers and Allies Network (SWAN), which operates a syringe exchange clinic in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven. SWAN’s website has been recently taken offline, but archived screenshots show Sturdivant Jr. listed as an employee as recently as April 29, 2025. This is two years after he was arrested in Nov. 2023, for fleeing New Haven police at a traffic stop and disposing of a loaded pistol and a “distribution quantity of packaged fentanyl laced with xylazine near Congress Avenue,” per a release by the U.S. Justice Department. Sturdivant Jr. pleaded guilty to the gun charge on January 6.

SWAN describes itself as “led by people with lived experience in sex work, incarceration, drug use, and homelessness.” While Sturdivant Jr. fits the bill of an individual with lived experience of incarceration, the repeated felonies he’s accrued, as well as their drug-related nature, seem at odds with the organization’s harm reduction model.

“SWAN’s outreach team distributes harm reduction supplies and operates a syringe exchange, allowing people to reduce the harms associated with drug use,” reads an archived version of SWAN’s site.

In 2014, Sturdivant Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release for his involvement in a New Haven-based drug-trafficking ring. Per a statement by the U.S. Justice Department, authorities investigated the ring “in the wake of repeated shootings and other violence between members of the Bloods and members of the Grape Street Crips.” Sturdivant Jr., who was identified by authorities as being a Crip at that time, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and possession of 10 ounces of crack cocaine with intent to distribute.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill granted Sturdivant Jr. a COVID-era compassionate release in December 2020. Per the decision, Sturdivant Jr. submitted a proposed re-entry plan pointing to the GED he earned while incarcerated, anger management courses he took, a history of “satisfactory work evaluations” in the DOC’s jobs program, and his “plans to attend college upon his release,” as evidence of his reformed nature. Sturdivant Jr. also cited his family as a motivating factor in turning things around.

“Sturdivant’s mother, who ‘has been a stabilizing force in her son’s life,’ lives near Sturdivant’s fiancé and reports that she will help ‘support [her son] in his transition into the community,’” wrote Underhill, who cited various court documents submitted by Sturdivant Jr. “Because Sturdivant ‘views his mother as an inspiration and role model,’ Sturdivant will ‘rely on her as a resource as he furthers his education and finds employment.’ Sturdivant concludes that, should he be released, he will have ‘a stable place to live with a family who has consistently been by his side.’”

Since his release, however, his criminal record has only grown. In addition to the 2023 arrest and his most recent drug arrest in July, Sturdivant Jr. was also arrested by West Haven Police on May 20, for several charges and traffic violations, including engaging in a police pursuit, physical threatening and resisting arrest. 

Neither SWAN’s Program Director Brandy Robinson, nor their Outreach Supervisor, John Rivera, responded to Inside Investigator’s inquiries as to Sturdivant Jr.’s current employment status, or why the organization appears to have continued his employment even after he pleaded guilty to previous drug-related charges.

As of October 2020, SWAN incorporated itself as a program of the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance (CTHRA), the state’s largest provider of harm-reduction services. Inside Investigator reached out to CTHRA Founder and CEO, Mark Jenkins, who also failed to respond.

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