The Justice Department recently announced an indictment against Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins for extortion charges related to investments in a Boston-based cannabis company.
A federal grand jury indicted the sheriff over a scheme in which he allegedly abused his position of power to extort a cannabis company for personal and political gain. The indictment alleges that Tompkins “did knowingly and willfully attempt to obstruct, delay, and affect commerce by extortion.”
Prosecutors claim the sheriff leveraged his influence over a community reentry program that was vital to the company’s business license to coerce the executives into giving him a private investment opportunity. He allegedly demanded that the company refund his $50,000 investment when he began having financial problems due to his political campaign.
🚨BREAKING: As a result of an FBI Boston investigation, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins has been taken into custody in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for allegedly extorting $50,000 from the owner of a national cannabis retail company seeking to do business in Boston. Learn… pic.twitter.com/Pv4Hv4cfqd
— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) August 8, 2025
Massachusetts’ Cannabis Control Commission handles the state’s licensing criteria and has a requirement mandating that cannabis companies show a “positive impact” on disproportionately harmed communities.
In order to secure a license to operate in Boston, the company partnered with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department on a workforce reentry program—a key component of obtaining he license.
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Tompkins allegedly “told [the executive] that he wanted to invest in [the company] before it went public,” but told him that “he could not do so using his own name.”
The indictment claims Tompkins invested in the company “in the name of another individual” but used his own funds to make the investment. As the sheriff’s reelection campaign went into full swing, he demanded that the company return his investment in full—even though it was not part of their contract.
Some new documents up on the docket regarding federally indicted Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins.
— Grant Smith Ellis (@GrantSmithEllis) August 14, 2025
On August 8th, 2025, Tompkins was released on a $200,000 bond and ordered to appear in Federal Court in Boston at a later date related to charges that he extorted Ascend… https://t.co/NIxfKjJfbO pic.twitter.com/McAaslqOTk
Tompkins told the executive that if the company did not issue the refund, its “business relationship with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department would terminate the community reentry program,” which would “jeopardize [the company’s] ability to renew its license.”
In essence, the company ran the risk of going out of business in Boston if it did not comply with Tompkins' alleged demand. The company returned the full $50,000 in five separate payments between May and October 2022.
The first repayment of $12,5000 came just days before Tompkins gave a $20,000 loan to his own political campaign.
Tompkins is facing one count of attempted extortion under the Hobbs Act because he “knowingly and willfully attempted to commit extortion…by the wrongful use of actual and threatened fear, and under color of official right,” according to the indictment.
If the allegations are true, then this story of corruption is already bad enough. But what this also highlights is how an abundance of laws and regulations makes it easier for corrupt officials to exploit the system.
The fact that the city requires cannabis companies to work with government programs ostensibly aimed at helping disadvantaged communities empowered Tompkins to use his position to financially enrich himself.
Big government policies are already harmful enough on their own. But when corrupt officials can use them to benefit themselves at the expense of business owners and individuals, it further shows that we are a nation of too many laws.
Editor’s Note: Corruption is running rampant, especially at the local level. Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Sheriff Tompkins.
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