Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR’s politics newsletter, Mass. Politics. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Welcome back to Mass. Politics, where we’re taking a trip to the courthouse after some time camping out at the State House and traveling the campaign trail. In today’s edition: Steve Tompkins, Andrea Cabral and more.
Is it high noon for Suffolk County’s sheriff?
In late August, the state’s political class is focused on getting out the vote in races up and down the primary ballot, starting with the U.S. Senate match between incumbent Ed Markey and fellow Democrat Seth Moulton.
But some may crane their necks in the direction of the federal courthouse in South Boston, where a trial slated to start Aug. 24 will spotlight the entanglement of Boston politics and the state’s marijuana sector.
The trial of indicted Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins comes with a fascinating question: Who tipped off the feds? He’s pleaded not guilty to extorting a cannabis company, Ascend Wellness Holdings. Federal prosecutors say he pressured one of its top executives for a $50,000 equity investment in 2020, before the company went public. That was allegedly in exchange for a continued partnership with the sheriff’s department. The government contends Tompkins later pressed for a refund when the value of the stock fell.
The executive and named victim in court filings is Frank Perullo, a longtime Democratic political operative and lobbyist who jumped into the cannabis sector when it became legal in 2018. He’s president of Ascend, which runs pot stores in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio, among other states.
Federal prosecutors allege “Perullo feared that if he did not agree to Tompkins’ demands,” the sheriff could use his official authority to jeopardize Ascend’s license renewals in Boston and elsewhere.
Tompkins, a Democrat with a history of state ethics violations, has been deeply involved in state politics, helping the past campaigns of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Michelle Wu. Since his arrest last August, the 68-year-old has been on leave from the elected job he’s held since 2013. Calls for his resignation were muted. (After the indictment, he did resign his post as chair of Roxbury Community College’s board of trustees.)
He’s raised some money in a legal defense fund, according to state campaign finance records, just over $19,000 in donations, including $5,000 from the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), a union; $1,000 from Norfolk County Treasurer Michael Bellotti, and $97 from Jackie Jenkins-Scott, the retired president of Roxbury Community College.
Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins walks with his defense attorney Martin Weinberg as they leave after his indictment at the Moakley Federal Courthouse. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Tompkins has hired a high-powered criminal defense lawyer, Martin Weinberg, who recently worked on the Karen Read case. His other past clients include former House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s accountant, who was acquitted in a federal corruption case, and a former Somerville alderman convicted in an attempted bribery case involving a Medford marijuana shop.
In court papers, Weinberg argues Tompkins did not seek to jeopardize Ascend’s license because he had friends there. Former Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral was one of them; she backed Tompkins as her successor when she became the state’s public safety secretary. Later, she was tapped by Perullo to be Ascend’s chief executive in Massachusetts.
Weinberg said in the court filing he plans to provide evidence that Perullo was friendly with Tompkins around the period the government alleges Perullo was fearful about Tompkins’ alleged extortion effort.
In one exhibit involving a June 2021 group message chain, Perullo “loved” an article about Tompkins and wrote, “Nice work. Let’s go to a law enforcement conference and get weird,” according to Weinberg’s filing.
Another exhibit has an April 2022 group message chain, focused on shirts from Tompkins’ reelection campaign. “Need one….I need your face on my chest,” Perullo wrote.
It is “simply implausible,” Weinberg wrote, “that, if Mr. Tompkins had extorted Mr. Perullo as alleged by the government, causing Mr. Perullo to fear that he and the company he headed would be harmed, the two would have continued to communicate in this manner during the years-long course of that alleged extortion.”
The trial is expected to last two weeks, according to the prosecutors’ filing. And the public will get to hear from some of these players if they take the stand.
Will you be keeping tabs on the trial from the campaign trail or the beach? Drop me a line with your take: gind@bu.edu.
