🚨 BREAKING: FBI ARRESTS BOSTON SHERIFF WHO REFUSED TO WORK WITH ICE 🚨

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, a staunch opponent of cooperating with ICE on illegal alien deportations, has just been BOOKED on federal EXTORTION charges.

He allegedly shook down a cannabis dealer for $50,000 while abusing his public position.

So much for “sanctuary” ethics…

🔹 Anti-ICE
🔹 Pro-crime policies
🔹 Now under federal arrest for corruption

The walls are closing in on the radical left’s corrupt strongholds.

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins was arrested Friday after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly extorting a cannabis company seeking to open a dispensary in Boston.

Tompkins, 67, is accused of extorting $50,000 from an executive with the unnamed national cannabis retailer by leveraging a key partnership between his office and the dispensary. Federal prosecutors allege Tompkins first pressured the executive into selling him equity interest in the company, then into refunding his buy-in when share prices dipped.

Tompkins was arrested in Florida Friday morning on two counts of extortion under color of official right, U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley’s office said in a news release. He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance at 11 a.m. It was unclear Friday morning whether Tompkins had an attorney who could comment on his behalf; a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office was not immediately reachable.

In a statement, Foley accused Tompkins of using his official position to benefit himself.

“Elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law abiding — not self-serving,” she said. “His alleged actions are an affront to the voters and taxpayers who elected him to his position, and the many dedicated and honest public servants at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. The people of Suffolk County deserve better.”

According to court documents, the cannabis company in question sought to open a retail dispensary in Boston in 2019 and teamed up with the sheriff’s office to help screen and refer graduates of its re-entry program to apply for work at the dispensary. The partnership was part of the company’s “positive impact plan,” meant to benefit areas where the war on drugs has taken a disproportionate toll.

The state’s Cannabis Control Commission approved the company’s license to operate a dispensary in Boston in March 2021. But while the licensing process was still underway, federal prosecutors allege Tompkins began pressuring the executive to sell him stock before the company went public. According to court documents, Tompkins specifically told the executive he “wanted to get in on the stock so [he] could make some cannabis money.”

When the executive rebuffed Tompkins, the sheriff allegedly upped the ante with a reminder that the company still needed his help for future license renewals. Purportedly fearing Tompkins would use his position to jeopardize the company’s partnership with the sheriff’s office and imperil both the dispensary license and the company’s initial public offering, the executive relented.

Prosecutors say Tompkins wired the executive $50,000 from his retirement account in November 2020, purchasing an equity interest that ballooned to a value of approximately $138,403 after the company went public. 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.

By then, prosecutors noted, Tompkins was in the midst of a reelection campaign and facing mounting expenses. According to court documents, the refund was paid through five installments, some of the checks reading “loan repayment” and “[company] expense” in the memo line to disguise the nature of the payments.

Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in a statement Suffolk County residents deserve better than “a man who is accused of trading on his position to bankroll his own political and financial future.” He accused Tompkins of trying to “make a quick buck on the sly” in an example of “clear cut corruption.”

A power player in Boston political circles, Tompkins has served as sheriff since 2013 and oversees the county’s correctional facilities. He was last reelected in 2022.

This isn’t the sheriff’s first brush with the law; in 2023, Tompkins paid a $12,300 civil penalty after officials said he created a paid position in his office for his niece so she could help him with childcare. Tompkins also paid a $2,500 civil penalty in 2015 for invoking his position as sheriff to have store owners remove his political opponent’s campaign signs.

Tompkins will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The federal extortion charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.