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Sheriff accused of extortion will ‘step away’ from position
“The allegations against Sheriff Tompkins are serious,” Gov. Maura Healey acknowledged Wednesday.
Embattled Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins has agreed to “step away” from his position as he faces federal charges tied to his alleged extortion of a cannabis company, officials said Wednesday.
“The allegations against Sheriff Tompkins are serious,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement announcing the temporary transition.
Tompkins, 67, is accused of using his position to extort a cannabis executive whose company was looking to set up shop in Boston. The longtime sheriff was arrested earlier this month in Florida and charged with two counts of extortion under color of official right.
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Healey’s office said Tompkins has agreed to step away until the federal case against him is resolved. Special Sheriff Mark Lawhorne will fill the role in his absence.
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“The Suffolk County Sheriff is responsible for managing more than a thousand employees, hundreds of inmates and programs that are essential to public safety and rehabilitation,” Healey said. “It is a full-time job that demands full time attention.”
She added: “The people of Massachusetts need to be able to trust in the integrity of the criminal justice system and that their elected officials are fully engaged in the work of serving the public.”
Tompkins pleaded not guilty in federal court last week. His attorney, Martin G. Weinberg, told reporters it is his “strong expectation” that Tompkins will ultimately be acquitted.
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“The facts simply will demonstrate that he was charged with a crime he did not commit,” Weinberg said. “We have a great criminal justice system, but errors are made. Not every person charged with a crime is guilty; not every person charged with a crime is convicted.”
Federal prosecutors allege Tompkins leveraged a key partnership between his office and the unnamed cannabis retailer to extort $50,000 from one of the company’s executives. Tompkins is accused of pressuring the executive into selling him stock before the venture went public, then into refunding his buy-in when the value of his shares dipped.
Authorities have not publicly named the cannabis company or the executive in question, but The Boston Globe identified Ascend Mass as the retailer and longtime Boston political consultant turned marijuana entrepreneur Frank Perullo as the alleged extortion victim.
Tompkins has served as sheriff since 2013 and is midway through a six-year term that ends in 2028. He’s also run afoul of the law twice before, paying civil penalties on separate occasions after he was accused of using his position to get a political opponent’s campaign signs removed and creating a paid position in his office so his niece could help him with child care.
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His Aug. 8 arrest sparked rampant speculation about his political future and whether fellow elected officials would call on him to step down.
“This is the right step for the Sheriff’s Office and the public as a whole, as it avoids prolonged proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Court,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Wednesday.
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