BOSTON — Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins has been charged with extortion for his alleged involvement in the purchase of an equity interest in a Boston-based cannabis company.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Tompkins, 67, of Boston, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of Extortion Under Color of Official Right. Tompkins was arrested this morning in the Southern District of Florida and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance there at 11:00 a.m. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Tompkins currently serves as Sheriff of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD). He was appointed to the position in 2013, elected in a 2014 special election, and subsequently re-elected to consecutive six-year terms. As Sheriff, he oversees roughly 1,000 correctional officers and staff who manage and operate the House of Correction and Nashua Street Jail in Boston.
According to court documents, in 2019, a cannabis business referred to as “Company A” applied to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) for a retail dispensary license in Boston. To meet the Commission’s Positive Impact Plan (PIP) requirement, Company A partnered with the SCSD, which agreed to screen and refer graduates of its re-entry program for potential employment at the dispensary.
“Company A’s partnership with the SCSD was formalized in a letter signed by Tompkins in September 2019 and submitted to the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) as part of its dispensary license application around March 2020,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in its statement. “The CCC approved Company A’s license to operate a cannabis dispensary in Boston in or around March 2021 and subsequently approved renewal applications in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In each renewal, Company A cited its continued partnership with the SCSD as part of its compliance with the Positive Impact Plan (PIP) requirement.”
According to court documents, Company A aimed to raise capital to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) and expand as a publicly traded company. To achieve this, company officials—including an executive referred to as Individual A—sought multimillion-dollar investments from institutional and high net-worth investors, rather than from the general public or small individual investors. Beginning around mid-2020, Company A began preparing for the IPO by producing audited financial statements, retaining legal counsel to ensure compliance with securities laws, and securing additional funding from large-scale and high net-worth investors.
“It is alleged that Tompkins pressured Individual A for stock, reminding Individual A that Tompkins had helped Company A in its Boston licensing efforts,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in its statement. “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. 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.”
In November 2020, Tompkins allegedly wired $50,000 from his retirement account to an account controlled by Individual A. He purchased Company A stock at a pre-IPO price of approximately $1.73 per share, acquiring the equivalent of 28,883 shares. Following a reverse stock split, Tompkins’ holdings were adjusted to approximately 14,417 shares at a revised price of about $3.46 per share.
According to court documents, around mid-2021 when Company A launched its IPO, its stock was valued at approximately $9.60 per share. As a result, Tompkins’s $50,000 investment—amounting to roughly 14,417 shares—had increased in value to approximately $138,403.
“In May 2022, Company A stock decreased in value such that Tompkins’s equity interest in Company A stock was worth several thousand dollars less than the $50,000 he originally invested,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said. “However, Tompkins demanded a refund of $50,000 and, despite the decrease in the value of Tompkins’s investment, Individual A agreed to Tompkins’s demands for full repayment of $50,000.”
Between approximately May 2022 and July 2023, Individual A allegedly returned Tompkins’s $50,000 investment by issuing five checks. At Tompkins’s direction, some of the checks included memo lines such as “loan repayment” and “[company] expense,” which prosecutors allege were intended to conceal the true nature of the payments.
“Mr. Tompkins is a sitting Sheriff, responsible for over 1,000 employees, who was elected by the good people of Suffolk County,” said United States 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. 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. 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.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, each charge of extortion under color of official right carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is determined by a federal district court judge in accordance with the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable federal statutes.
“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,” said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “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. 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.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Mulcahy and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, where Chao serves as chief.
