Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins is set to return to his post after a jury acquitted him on Wednesday of extortion charges linked to controversial stock dealings with a marijuana company. The verdict brings an end to a legal battle that began when the 68 year old sheriff was arrested in Florida in 2025 following a federal indictment. His attorney expressed gratitude over the decision, noting that the community would soon have its elected leader back in office.
The case centered on allegations that Tompkins abused his power for financial gain during a partnership between the sheriff’s department and a cannabis firm. According to prosecutors, the company had originally agreed in 2019 to hire graduates from the department’s re-entry program. However, government officials claimed that Tompkins pressured the business for stock options just before it went public in 2021. Records showed he invested fifty thousand dollars from his retirement account into shares that initially spiked in value, netting a significant paper profit shortly after the initial public offering.
The prosecution argued that once those stock values plummeted by May 2022, Tompkins demanded his original investment back from a company executive who eventually complied. Throughout the proceedings, however, Tompkins maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to two counts of extortion under color of official right. As part of the legal process, he had stepped away from his daily responsibilities leading the agency and its one thousand employees across several correctional facilities.
Having served since his appointment in 2013 through multiple six year terms, Tompkins now faces a transition back into leadership at the House of Correction and Nashua Street Jail. While US Attorney Leah Foley had painted a picture of corruption tied to corporate influence, the jury ultimately found insufficient evidence to sustain those claims, clearing the way for the veteran law enforcement officer to resume his duties.
