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Suffolk Sheriff Tompkins resigns from Roxbury Community College board after extortion charges
Healey said Tompkins “made the right decision by stepping down," but has yet to call for his resignation from the Suffolk County sheriff position.
Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, a longtime leader facing federal charges for allegedly extorting a cannabis company, has resigned from Roxbury Community College’s Board of Trustees.
In a letter addressed to Governor Maura Healey, he formally resigned from his position of chair, effective Monday. Tompkins said he has “greatly appreciated” the experience. Governor Charlie Baker appointed Tompkins chair in 2019 after he served as a member beginning in 2013.
While Healey has not called for her fellow Democrat’s resignation, she said in a statement Wednesday that Tompkins “made the right decision by stepping down.”
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Vice Chair Israul Marrero, a police officer, will serve as acting chair of the Board until Healey appoints a permanent chair, RCC and its Board of Trustees said in a statement.
“We respect Sheriff Tompkins’ decision and are grateful for his years of dedicated advocacy, leadership, and commitment to Roxbury Community College,” the statement said. “The RCC Board of Trustees will continue advancing the College’s mission by empowering our community through education.”
Tompkins accused of pressuring exec for $50,000 in shares before company went public
Tompkins was arrested in Florida Aug. 8 after a federal grand jury indicted him on two counts of extortion under color of official right. He’s accused of extorting $50,000 from an executive with an unnamed cannabis retailer that was seeking to open a dispensary in Boston.
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Tompkins has been sheriff in Suffolk County since 2013 and was elected to another six-year term in 2022.
Federal prosecutors allege Tompkins pressured an executive with the cannabis company to sell him $50,000 worth of stock before the company went public. The company affected is Ascend Mass, part of Ascend Cannabis, according to multiple reports.
Tompkins and the company initially worked together when Ascend was looking to open a retail dispensary in Boston in 2019. The sheriff’s office would help screen and refer graduates of its re-entry program to apply for work at the dispensary.
As the dispensary was waiting on its license, Tompkins allegedly began pressuring the executive to buy the stock. The executive rebuffed Tompkins, who then reminded the executive that he had helped him acquire the license and would need his help for subsequent renewals, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors said his $50,000 purchase of shares appreciated to about $138,403. When the value of his shares later decreased and his stake dipped below his initial investment, Tompkins allegedly demanded — and received — a full refund of $50,000, Boston.com previously reported. He allegedly disguised the refund with memos like “loan repayment” and “(company) expense.”
Healey indicated Monday that she hadn’t “gotten all the information,” according to The Boston Globe.
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“The allegations are certainly serious, and no one in elected positions should ever use or abuse their power in an unlawful way,” Healey told reporters, per the Globe. “I need to know more about this. I need to get more information.”
No attorney information for Tompkins was available in federal court.
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