Suffolk County sheriff federally indicted, accused of extorting cannabis company
Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins spoke at the 2019 Massachusetts Democratic Convention held at the MassMutual Center in Downtown Springfield on September 14, 2019. Photo by Erik Kaplan
The sheriff of Suffolk County is facing federal charges after he was accused of extorting a cannabis company executive in a scheme around stock payments, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins, 67, of Boston, was arrested in Florida on Friday. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of extortion under color of official right, and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
The case involved Tompkins' interactions with a cannabis company, merely identified in court documents as Company A, that was trying to open a dispensary in Boston in 2019. Tompkins partnered with the company that year to hire graduates of the sheriff department's re-entry program at the cannabis company.
"Mr. Tompkins is a sitting Sheriff, responsible for over 1,000 employees, who was elected by the good people of Suffolk County," said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley.
"Today, he is alleged to have extorted an executive from a cannabis company, using his official position as Sheriff to benefit himself."
Tompkins was appointed Suffolk County Sheriff in 2013, elected as Sheriff in a special election the following year and then was elected to successive six-year terms. He oversees around 1,000 correctional officers and other employees who maintain correctional facilities in Boston at the House of Correction and the Nashua Street Jail.
Tompkins is accused of wielding his power to pressure an executive of the cannabis company, who was not named in the announcement, for stock from the company just before its initial public offering (IPO) processes. The executive was afraid that if the company didn't give him stock, Tompkins would use his position to put the partnership with the sheriff's department at risk, which would subsequently threaten the new cannabis company's license.
Tompkins used $50,000 of his retirement savings to buy pre-IPO shares at $1.73 a share in November 2020, the U.S. attorney said. When the company launched in 2021, stock value was at $9.60 a share, which increased Tompkins' investment value to $138,403.
But when the stock price dropped in May 2022, Tompkins again pressured the executive and company and demanded a full refund of his $50,000 share — which he received through five separate checks, Foley said. Some checks were labeled as "loan repayment" and "company expense" to hide their nature.
"From his very first day as Suffolk County Sheriff, Steven Tompkins sought to portray himself as a man of the people – a principled public servant and reformer, devoted to the cause of justice," said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
"That's why it's beyond disappointing that he's now accused of gaming a system instituted in the interests of public safety and fair play," Docks said.
Each charge of extortion under color of official right carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
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