Sheriff Tompkins’ federal extortion trial starts Monday

The federal extortion trial for Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins began Monday with jury selection at John J. Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston.

Tompkins, 67, who has led the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since 2013, is accused of extorting $50,000 from a national cannabis company attempting to launch a Boston dispensary. 

Federal prosecutors allege Tompkins leveraged a key partnership between his office and the dispensary to coerce an executive into selling him equity interest in the firm. Later, when share prices dipped, he allegedly forced the executive to refund his initial investment.

Tompkins was arrested on two counts of extortion and pleaded not guilty in August 2025. 

Shortly after, Tompkins resigned from the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees and said he would “step away” from his position as sheriff. Assistant Superintendent Mark Lawhorne was appointed to serve as special sheriff in his place.

The jury trial opened at 9 a.m. Monday before Judge Myong J. Joun at the Moakley Courthouse, with proceedings scheduled through Sept. 4. Jury selection will proceed into Tuesday, court records show. 

Tompkins was in the middle of a six-year term set to conclude in 2028 when the allegations surfaced. 

According to court documents, Tompkins’s office teamed up with a cannabis company that was applying for licensure in Boston in 2019 — a key partnership central to the dispensary’s pitch to state regulators. 

Tompkins allegedly used that leverage to pressure one of the company’s executives into selling him stock before the venture went public. Fearing for the dispensary’s license and the company’s initial public offering, prosecutors say the executive relented.

Although authorities have not publicly named the cannabis company or the executive in question, The Boston Globe identified Ascend Mass as the retailer and Frank Perullo, a longtime Boston political consultant turned marijuana entrepreneur, as the alleged victim. 

The equity interest Tompkins acquired in November 2020 eventually grew to $138,403. When the stock dropped below his purchase price, Tompkins insisted on — and obtained — a complete refund of his investment, according to court documents. 

Tompkins’ defense counsel has maintained his innocence. 

Defense attorney Martin Weinberg, who was present for Monday’s proceedings, previously told reporters it is his “strong expectation” that Tompkins will ultimately be cleared of all extortion charges.

“He’s not only presumed innocent, but the history of the past decades of the criminal justice system have demonstrated that, in fact, some people who are innocent get charged,” Weinberg said after the Aug. 21, 2025 arraignment. “Mistakes are made; it’s our job to make sure that that mistake doesn’t burden Steve Tompkins’s life any further.”

Tompkins has been released on his own recognizance. For each of his counts, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.

Tompkins paid 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.