A jury found Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins not guilty on charges of extortion Wednesday, attorney Martin Weinberg for the defense told GBH News.
After the verdict came down, Weinberg said Tompkins was grateful that the jury reached the correct result.
“Suffolk County has their sheriff back,” the attorney said.
The prosecution argued throughout the trial that Tompkins used his position as a public official to extort a national cannabis company — while the defense maintained that the money exchanged was part of a legitimate business dealing.
Tompkins was indicted last year on charges of extorting $50,000 from a national cannabis company. He had been charged with two counts of extortion stemming from his dealings with one-time political operative turned marijuana entrepreneur Frank Perullo, who is the case’s star witness.
If found guilty, Tompkins would have faced up to 20 years in prison for each count of extortion.
Tompkins allegedly pressured Perullo in 2020 for stock before the company, Ascend Wellness, went public. Federal prosecutors say that Tompkins extorted Perullo by suggesting that, unless he could make the investment, his department would end a valuable community partnership with Ascend.
When the company went public the following year, Tompkins’ shares more than doubled in value. But after a year, the stock value fell — and Tompkins allegedly demanded a refund of his initial $50,000 investment, even though his shares were worth less than that.
According to court records, Tompkins wrote to Perullo in a text, “I helped get you Friend Street,” referring to Tompkins’ apparent efforts to help secure the location for Ascend Cannabis Dispensary in Boston.
Prosecutors say that Perullo worried his business’s relationship with the sheriff’s department would be in jeopardy if he didn’t return the money.
Weinberg, one of Tompkins’ attorneys, told the judge that Tompkins never asked Perullo to sell his shares and that Ascend’s licensure was “never in peril” because there was never any threat on Tompkins’ end.
Weinberg argued that the investments involving Ascend stock were legitimate dealings and that Perullo never had any reasonable fear of economic harm.
A federal grand jury indicted Tompkins last August. He was arrested in Florida and arraigned in federal court in Boston. After his arrest, Tompkins went on leave from his position as sheriff. An assistant superintendent, Mark Lawhorne, has been acting as sheriff in his absence.
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-09-02/suffolk-sheriff-tompkins-acquitted-of-extorting-cannabis-company?utm_source=policy_decoded&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=two-lobbies-one-molecule-and-99-days-to-december-11th
