Suffolk County Sheriff Arrested For Allegedly Pressuring Cannabis Firm To Buy Stock
Steven Tompkins, 67, has been charged with two counts of extortion
Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, 67, has been charged with two counts of extortion for allegedly pressuring a Boston-based cannabis company to sell him stock while it was preparing for an initial public offering in 2020. Federal prosecutors allege the company feared rejecting Tompkins could jeopardize its partnership with a sheriff’s department program that placed former inmates in jobs there—potentially endangering its operating license and IPO. Court filings say Tompkins wired $50,000 from his retirement account to buy the shares, which initially rose in value before declining. When the stock dropped in 2021, he allegedly demanded and received a full refund, issued through five checks marked as “loan repayments.”
Tompkins, who oversees about 1,000 employees, was taken into federal custody in Florida and will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston. The sheriff, previously fined $12,300 in 2023 for nepotism and using staff for personal errands, faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Neither his attorney nor the sheriff’s department has commented on the case.
