Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins, the Sheriff for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, is facing an extortion charge after he allegedly forced an executive of a Boston-based cannabis company to refund a $50,000 investment that he made.
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts said that the allegations brought against Tompkins stemmed from his purchase of an equity interest in the company. A federal grand jury indicted the 67-year-old suspect on two counts of Extortion Under Color of Official Right, and authorities took him into custody on August 8.
Court documents stated that in 2019, the cannabis company, named as Company A, wanted to open a retail cannabis dispensary in Boston and officially applied for a dispensary license from Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC).
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“To satisfy the Positive Impact Plan (PIP) requirement of the CCC, Company A entered into a partnership with the SCSD [Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department] whereby the SCSD would help screen and refer graduates of its re-entry program to apply for work at Company A’s retail store,” the statement said.
Authorities said that Tompkins in September 2019 signed a memorialized partnership between Company A and the SCSD before it was handed over to the CCC in “its completed dispensary license application in or about March 2020.”
The CCC is said to have given Company A the green light to run a cannabis dispensary in Boston in or about March 2020.
“The CCC later approved license renewal applications for Company A in 2021, 2022 and 2023,” authorities said. “In each of the renewal applications, Company A included its ongoing partnership with the SCSD as part of its fulfillment of the PIP requirement.”
Authorities said that Company A, as part of its goals, sought to raise funds to launch an initial public offering (IPO) and subsequently carry on with its rise as a publicly traded company. The statement said that officials with Company A and a company executive identified as Individual A, “sought multimillion-dollar investments from institutions or other high net-worth, sophisticated investors in order to raise capital.”
The statement added: “Company A officials, including Individual A, were not looking to raise capital from the general public or small, individual investors. Beginning in or about mid-2020, Company A began preparing for an IPO of Company A stock, which included producing audited financial statements, hiring attorneys to ensure compliance with securities laws and obtaining additional financing from large scale and high net-worth investors, among other things.”
Authorities, however, said that Tompkins allegedly forced Individual A for stock and reminded Individual A that he helped Company A when it applied for the license in Boston.
“It is alleged that Individual A believed and feared that Tompkins would use his official position as Sheriff to jeopardize Company A’s partnership with the SCSD and thus imperil both the dispensary license for Company A, as well as the timing of the IPO,” the statement said.
“In fact, in October 2020, Company A asked Tompkins for an updated partnership letter to submit to the CCC for its yearly renewal of Company A’s Boston license. Within one month of signing the October 2020 SCSD partnership letter with Company A, and after increased pressure on Individual A, Tompkins allegedly obtained a pre-IPO interest in Company A stock after Individual A relented to Tompkins’s demands.”
Authorities said that Tompkins in November 2020 subsequently wired $50,000 from his retirement account to an account managed by Individual A. After the IPO was launched, Tompkins’ $50,000 stock purchase value is said to have risen to $138,403.
Tompkins’ original $50,000 investment, however, depreciated in March 2022 after the value of Company A’s stock decreased, the statement said. Tompkins ultimately demanded that his $50,000 investment be refunded.
“Despite the decrease in the value of Tompkins’s investment, Individual A agreed to Tompkins’s demands for full repayment of $50,000,” authorities said.
Individual A is said to have ultimately issued five checks to Tompkins to repay his $50,000 investment. “Allegedly in accordance with Tompkins’s wishes, Individual A wrote memos on certain checks that read ‘loan repayment’ and ‘[company] expense’ to disguise the nature of some of the payments,” the statement said.
“The charges of extortion under color of official right each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000,” the statement said.
Authorities said Tompkins was initially appointed as Sheriff in 2013 before a special election that was held on or about 2014 saw him being elected as Sheriff. He was subsequently elected to consecutive six-year terms.
“Mr. Tompkins is a sitting Sheriff, responsible for over 1,000 employees, who was elected by the good people of Suffolk County. Today, he is alleged to have extorted an executive from a cannabis company, using his official position as Sheriff to benefit himself. Elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law abiding – not self-serving. His alleged actions are an affront to the voters and taxpayers who elected him to his position, and the many dedicated and honest public servants at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. The people of Suffolk County deserve better,” United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said.
“Public corruption remains a top priority for my administration and we will continue to investigate and prosecute anyone who uses their position of trust and power for their own gain.”
“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. 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. The FBI took Sheriff Tompkins into custody today for allegedly extorting $50,000 from the owner of a national cannabis retailer seeking to do business in Boston. We believe what the Sheriff saw as an easy way to make a quick buck on the sly is clear cut corruption under federal law,” Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, also said.
“The citizens of Suffolk County deserve better, not a man who is accused of trading on his position to bankroll his own political and financial future. Public servants must be held to the highest of ethical standards, and those falling short will be rooted out.”
