Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins joins a slew of public officers who’ve fallen into shame over the previous handful of years, with the group starting from state lawmakers to a mayor.
Tompkins’ arrest on fees that he extorted a Boston hashish firm for pre-IPO inventory is prompting questions from Massachusetts Republicans and a fiscal watchdog about how state leaders didn’t catch the alleged corruption.
Massachusetts U.S. Legal professional Leah Foley broke the event of Tompkins’ indictment on Friday, a sample critics argue has turn into all too acquainted, resulting in sharp criticism of the Legal professional Normal’s Workplace.
“Once again, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley is stepping in to expose corruption by Democrats in Massachusetts,” MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale mentioned in an announcement. “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,” Carnevale added, “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.”
Federal prosecutors accuse Tompkins of leveraging his place to bully firm executives into permitting him to take a position $50,000 within the firm forward of an preliminary public providing, after which his stake elevated in worth to almost $140,000. The alleged settlement was that he could be refunded his preliminary funding, in line with courtroom paperwork.
Authorities took Tompkins into custody Friday morning within the Southern District of Florida. A federal grand jury indicted HIM on two counts of extortion below coloration of official proper.
Paul Diego Craney, govt director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, is demanding that AG Andrea Campbell clarify to the general public why it “always takes federal prosecutors to clean up corruption in Massachusetts.”
“This is a law enforcement official allegedly abusing a reentry jobs program to line his own pockets,” Craney mentioned of Tompkins in an announcement. “It’s disgraceful and even more disgraceful that the state’s top law enforcement officer didn’t catch it.”
Campbell’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a Herald inquiry searching for touch upon Tompkins’ arrest and criticism. Campbell was elected as AG in November 2022.
The accusations lodged towards Tompkins are primarily based on alleged actions that occurred between 2019 and 2021.
Listed here are public officers who’ve fallen over the previous handful of years:
TANIA FERNANDES ANDERSON
Fernandes Anderson, 46, might be sentenced on Sept. 5 in Boston federal courtroom, following her conviction in Might on two public corruption felony fees.
The costs are tied to a kickback scheme Fernandes Anderson carried out at Metropolis Corridor two years in the past. The then-councilor doled out a $13,000 bonus to one in all her Council staffers, a relative however not an instantaneous member of the family, on the situation that $7,000 be kicked again to her.
The handoff was coordinated by textual content and happened in a Metropolis Corridor toilet in June 2023, the federal indictment states.
REP. CHRIS FLANAGAN
Authorities arrested Flanagan, a Dennis Port Democrat, in April on accusations that he stole tens of hundreds of {dollars} from a former employer, coated up the thefts, after which used the cash to pay private payments. He pleaded not responsible and was launched on the situation that he keep employed or search a brand new job.
All three cities in his district – Yarmouth, Dennis and Brewster – have demanded his resignation, however Flanagan stays on the job.
FORMER STATE SEN. DEAN TRAN
A federal choose sentenced Tran, of Fitchburg, to 18 months in jail adopted by two years of supervised launch, having been convicted of 23 felony counts, together with unemployment help and tax fraud.
Tran was convicted of stealing COVID-19 unemployment help advantages whereas truly being employed as a $ 90-an-hour guide for a New Hampshire auto elements firm. The additional earnings was additional inflated by Tran dishonest on his 2020, 2021 and 2022 taxes, prosecutors say.
FORMER NORFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT TOM BRADY
A federal grand jury indicted Brady, 53, of Norwood, in reference to an alleged extortion scheme to pressure subordinate workers to carry out free labor at his residence.
Brady pleaded not responsible to the scheme throughout an arraignment in Boston federal courtroom in Might, with an interim standing convention set for Aug. 20. He was fired earlier this month from the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Workplace, which he had been with since 1996.
FORMER QUINCY ELDER SERVICES DIRECTOR THOMAS F. CLASBY
Authorities arrested Clasby this previous January on fees that he allegedly orchestrated a scheme through which he embezzled hundreds in taxpayer {dollars} for presents for himself, his household, and his buddies, together with over 100 kilos of bourbon steak suggestions.
FORMER FALL RIVER MAYOR JASIEL CORREIA II
Correia was convicted in 2021 of 21 counts for defrauding traders in a smartphone app, extorting cash from marijuana firms, and mendacity to the IRS. A choose in the end dismissed 10 fees, leaving 11 convictions to face.
Correia, 33, has not too long ago moved out of federal jail in Kentuck and into the Federal Bureau of Prisons Residential Reentry Administration program, which serves inmates in a midway home close to the place they are going to be dwelling as soon as their sentence expires, in line with experiences.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS U.S. ATTORNEY RACHAEL ROLLINS
Rollins resigned from her position in Might 2023 because the state’s prime prosecutor after being scorched in two federal experiences that declared she abused her place, together with by violating the Hatch Act by attending a Democratic Nationwide Committee fundraiser in Andover in 2022, which former First Girl Jill Biden headlined.
The DOJ additionally warned that Rollins would face additional self-discipline if she didn’t promptly resign.
Rollins bounced again and now has a six-figure job with Roxbury Neighborhood Faculty. She is paid an annual wage of $109,852 as a program govt director.
Herald wire supplies contributed to this report
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