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Who is Steven Tompkins? Suffolk County Sheriff arrested on extortion charges
Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins was arrested for extorting $50K from a cannabis firm; the FBI detained him in Florida on two federal charges.
Steven Tompkins, the Sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, since 2013, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday morning, the US Attorney's Office in Boston announced. He faces two counts of extortion charges in Massachusetts with regard to his dealings with a local cannabis company.
67-year-old Tompkins, who was elected as the Sheriff of Suffolk County for a six-year term in 2022, allegedly extorted $50,000 from a marijuana business owner in Suffolk County. He was arrested in Florida and will be brought back to Boston later, the statement from the attorney's office said.
Who is Steven Tompkins?
Steven W Tompkins has been a member of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department since 2002, his bio on the department's website states. He rose through the ranks to become the Sheriff of Suffolk County on January 22, 2013. He was appointed by then-Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick. As Sheriff, he is in charge of 1000 people, spanning the Suffolk County House of Correction, the Suffolk County Jail, and the Civil Process Division.
Tompkins has served as President of the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association and is engaged in numerous leadership roles, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Roxbury Community College and previously as Vice President of Region 1 for the National Organization of Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).
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What are the charges against Steven Tomkins?
As per the statement released by the Attorney's Office in Boston, Sheriff Steven Tompkins is alleged committed extortion in his dealings with a local cannabis firm owner. The series of incidents involving Tomkins and the unidentified owner of the cannabis firm started in November 2020, when Tomkins allegedly pressured the owner to sell him $50,000 worth of stocks in the firm.
Having bought the stocks successfully for $1.73 before the company went public in 2021, Tompkins $50,000 investment had grown to $138,403 in 2021 when the company went public. However, in May 2022, the share prices of the firm fell significantly, meaning Tompkins was at a loss of "several thousand dollars," as per the statement.
Tompkins then allegedly demanded a refund of $50,000 and extorted the same from the owner despite the value of the shares being less. Records show that the money was paid back to him in five installments, from May 2022 to July 2023. They were disguised as 'loan repayment' and '[company] expense' in the records, the statement noted.
