The sheriff of Suffolk County is facing federal charges after he was accused of extorting a cannabis company executive in a scheme around stock payments, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins, 67, of Boston, was arrested in Florida on Friday. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of extortion under color of official right, and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
The case involved Tompkins' interactions with a cannabis company, merely identified in court documents as Company A, that was trying to open a dispensary in Boston in 2019. Tompkins partnered with the company that year to hire graduates of the sheriff department's re-entry program at the cannabis company.
"Mr. Tompkins is a sitting Sheriff, responsible for over 1,000 employees, who was elected by the good people of Suffolk County," said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley.
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