Tompkins has served as sheriff since 2013, overseeing the jails in the county that includes Boston. He’s seen as influential in city and state Democratic politics, handing out endorsements and seeking his own.
“Today, he is alleged to have extorted an executive from a cannabis company, using his official position as Sheriff to benefit himself,” United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said in a statement. “Elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law abiding — not self-serving.”
The indictment, unsealed Friday morning, does not name the company Tompkins is charged with extorting, but describes the organization as being founded in 2018 and partnering with the sheriff’s office the following year to provide jobs for people being released from jail once its store opened.
The partnership, according to the indictment, was a key part of the company’s pitch for a license to open up a store downtown.
As the company moved through the licensing process, Tompkins allegedly began to pressure it to sell him stock before they want public.
Tompkins allegedly told a member of the company he “wanted to get in on the stock so [he] could make some cannabis money.”
The company rebuffed him.
But Tompkins kept pushing, according to the indictment, telling the company officials that they needed him and the partnership for future license renewals. The official Tompkins was pressuring, according to the indictment, began to “believe and fear” that Tompkins would use his office to imperil their license.
So they gave him access to the stock before it went public, selling him $50,000, according to the indictment, giving him a percentage ownership interest in the company.
After the company went public in 2021, his stock was worth $138,403, the indictment states.
But in the following months, the stock benefit decreased and his equity stake dipped several thousand dollars below his initial investment.
By this point in late 2021 and early 2022, Tompkins faced re-election. As campaign costs mounted, he demanded a refund on his $50,000 to pay for “his campaign and personal expenses,” according to the indictment.
Tompkins had not signed any type of offer that would have guaranteed a refund on his initial investment, but the official paid him back anyway, in five checks from May 2022 to July 2023.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.
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