Massachusetts sheriff charged with extortion over $50,000 stock deal with cannabis company
The FBI said it arrested Steven Tompkins, the sheriff of Suffolk county – which encompasses Boston and the outlying counties of Chelsea and Revere – for allegedly threatening to revoke his office's partnership with the company unless it agreed to the deal.
Tompkins was also accused of demanding to be repaid after the value of his shares in the cannabis company sank below his initial investment, according to court documents.
Agents took Tompkins into custody on Friday in Florida.
'Elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law abiding – not self-serving,' US attorney Leah Foley said in a statement.
An indictment against Tompkins, who has served as sheriff since 2013, charged him with two counts of extortion under color of official right. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Described as a 'ubiquitous, glad-handing Democrat in Boston political circles' by the Boston Globe, Tompkins oversees the largest county correctional system in Massachusetts.
The sheriff has previously come under the scrutiny of authorities. In 2023, he paid a $12,000 fine for creating a no-bid job for his niece several years earlier and for asking subordinates to run personal errands. He also paid another $2,500 fine for asking business owners to remove his political opponent's campaign signs from their windows.
'Every one of us in elected office is held to a high standard, and whenever there are law enforcement officials that there's anything coming into question with the law, it is a very serious allegation,' said Michelle Wu, Boston's mayor, to reporters on Friday.
Tompkins's indictment is likely to cast a spotlight on Massachusetts' legalized marijuana industry, which has come under scrutiny since the state legalized the drug in 2016. Two years before Tompkins's arrest, Massachusetts formed a Cannabis Control Commission after a series of scandals, including the dismissal of its top commissioner for bullying and making racially inappropriate comments.
The indictment against Tompkins does not name the cannabis company involved in the alleged plot. But media reports have identified it as Ascend Mass, part of Ascend Cannabis, a multi-state retailer. A close friend of Tompkins, Andrea Cabral, once ran Ascend Mass.
According to documents outlining the circumstances of his indictment, Tompkins allegedly told a member of the company he 'wanted to get in on the stock so [he] could make some cannabis money'.
He was initially rebuffed but continued to pressure an Ascend official that the company needed his cooperation to renew its license. The company then sold 28,000 shares for $50,000 to Tompkins.
They rose in value to $138,403 after Ascend went public in 2021 but later sank below the value of his holdings. Tompkins then allegedly demanded a refund on his $50,000 to pay for 'his campaign and personal expenses'.
'We believe what the sheriff saw as an easy way to make a quick buck on the sly is clearcut corruption under federal law,' Ted Docks, FBI special agent in charge of the agency's Boston division, said in a statement.
'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.'
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