Generally saying nothing says an terrible lot.
Suffolk Sheriff Steven Tompkins, indicted by federal authorities Friday for alleged extortion in reference to a Boston pot enterprise IPO, additionally occurs to be Chairman of the Roxbury Group School Board of Trustees.
Gov. Maura Healey had no remark over the weekend on Tompkins place atop the governing physique of the native school.
Nonetheless, in line with a pair of Republican candidates trying to oust her in 2026, the Bay State’s governor ought to communicate up and act instantly to take away the felony-indicted sheriff from his seat on the board.
Republican main candidates Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve each stated Sunday that Gov. Maura Healey’s silence and inaction following the indictment and arrest of Tompkins, a Democrat, is telling.
Healey, who got here to her job by the use of the Lawyer Basic’s workplace, might have “investigated and indicted Sheriff Tompkins” when she was serving because the state’s chief legislation enforcement officer, Kennealy advised the Herald Sunday.
“Instead, Healey endorsed his reelection campaign during the same time period he was allegedly committing extortion. Healey should condemn Tompkins and suspend him from any board, commission, or position that falls under her authority,” Kennealy stated.
Based on Shortsleeve, Gov. Healey’s “lack of leadership is showing” by her silence.
“She should immediately remove her handpicked Suffolk County Sheriff … as chair of the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees. This is the same guy who let an accused pedophile illegal immigrant walk free by ignoring an ICE detainer, and who got slapped with nearly $15,000 in state ethics fines. Yet Healey thought he was top law enforcement material,” Shortsleeve stated.
A spokesperson for the governor declined to weigh in on Sunday when requested how the sheriff’s indictment would possibly impression his function because the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Roxbury Group School. Healey’s workplace additionally didn’t provide a remark or assertion on the indictment itself.
Thompson has served as board chair at RCC since 2019, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Baker. He’s served as Suffolk County Sheriff since 2013 following his appointment to the place by the previous Gov. Deval Patrick. Tompkins took over as sheriff after former Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral was elevated to the place of state Secretary of Public Security.
Based on the RCC Board of Trustees bylaws, the “Governor of the Commonwealth appoints the Chair of the Board of Trustees.” Tompkins and different trustees should not compensated for his or her work on the board, in line with the bylaws. He made $215,430 from the state for his work as sheriff and for “leave buy back” in 2024.
Jordan Smock, an Affiliate Vice President at Roxbury Group School, advised the Herald that the college wouldn’t weigh in on the matter at this juncture.
“As we understand from news reports that there is a pending federal investigation, the College has no comment at this time,” Smock stated.
Tompkins, 67, was taken into custody by federal authorities in Florida on Friday after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of Extortion Below Shade of Official Proper. Based on court docket paperwork, the costs stem from an alleged try to make use of his place as a way of forcing a hashish firm to chop him in on shares forward of their going public.
Following his arrest, U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Alicia Valle launched Tompkins on $200,000 Most well-liked Surety Bond and ordered him eliminated to Massachusetts to face proceedings right here, in line with court docket data. Tompkins waived any additional hearings on removing and is due in federal court docket in Boston on August 15.
Tompkins’ workplace didn’t return a request for remark, nor did the founder and president of the corporate apparently focused within the alleged extortion scheme, Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc.
The sheriff’s former boss, Cabral, was listed because the CEO of the corporate at its founding, although she not seems on their web site’s board of administrators web page. A message despatched to Cabral’s firm e-mail didn’t elicit a reply, however neither did it return as not in service.
The sheriff, in line with a federal indictment, grew to become concerned with the hashish firm’s Boston enterprise by a 2019 association which might see previously incarcerated people given work on the firm’s retail retailer. The hashish firm used this association with the sheriff’s workplace as proof they’d developed a “Positive Impact Plan” as required by state hashish licensing legal guidelines.
The indictment alleges that Tompkins later threatened the corporate’s future operations by withholding his help for his or her “Positive Impact Plan,” in the event that they didn’t enable him to purchase inventory within the firm forward of their preliminary public providing.
Tompkins allegedly paid $50,000 for shares within the firm. After the inventory went public, his funding ballooned to just about $140,000, however didn’t keep there. Following the inventory’s decline beneath his preliminary funding, the sheriff allegedly demanded his a refund to “help pay for campaign and personal expenses.”
The corporate’s government, who is just not named in court docket paperwork, allegedly paid Tompkins with 5 checks totaling $50,000.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Affiliation stated that they have been going to chorus from weighing because the authorized proceedings are underway.
“Given the active nature of this investigation, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association will respect the parties in this case, and allow the legal process to play out,” the group stated in a press release.
MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale praised the work of U.S. Lawyer Leah Foley to “expose corruption by Democrats in Massachusetts.”
“Sheriff Tompkins allegedly used his position of public trust for personal gain, thus violating his oath of office. The arrest of Sheriff Tompkins reminds us that one-party rule in Massachusetts has been ineffective in preventing and exposing corruption and extortion by Democrats in offices from city council and state representative to county sheriff,” Carnevale stated in a press release.
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