A cannabis entrepreneur told prosecutors Friday that he tried to rebuff efforts by Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins to buy into the marijuana dispensary company he co-founded before it went public, saying he “didn’t think it was something I should do.”

“I didn’t think it was right because he was an elected official that we were doing a program with. I didn’t think it was something I thought was possible, or something we should do,” testified Frank Perullo, president and co-founder of Ascend Wellness, during the federal extortion trial of Tompkins in Boston federal court.

Perullo, of Lexington, is the government’s key witness, who accepted immunity in exchange for providing testimony, lawyers revealed in opening statements Tuesday.

Tompkins, who took a leave of absence from the sheriff’s office following his August 2025 arrest, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of extortion. Prosecutors allege he pressured Perullo into selling him $50,000 worth of pre-IPO stock in Ascend Wellness and later demanded a refund when those shares lost value.

The government contends Tompkins leveraged his position as sheriff by stoking fears that Ascend’s license could be in jeopardy without his help. Ascend had partnered with his office to hire former inmates as part of its plan to fulfill cannabis regulators’ community requirements for a business license.

Over nearly three hours of direct testimony on the witness stand Friday, Perullo recollected how the sheriff asked to invest in the marijuana retail company in summer 2020, before its public launch.

“I want to get in on the IPO, I want to be able to make cannabis money,” Perullo recalled Tompkins telling him.

“I was dismissive and said it’s not really possible, it’s not something we could do,” Perullo testified.

He said Tompkins was persistent.

“I helped you get that spot on Friend Street, you wouldn’t be this big company without me,” Perullo recalled the sheriff saying.

Friend Street is a reference to Ascend’s flagship retail location in Boston, near TD Garden. Ascend’s former chief financial officer, Daniel Neville, testified earlier in the day that the address was considered a choice location, as one of the first major downtown pot dispensaries in a major Northeast city.

“I wasn’t particularly pleased to get this kind of request from someone we had this partnership with, a government official,” Perullo testified, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Central to Ascend Wellness’ ability to operate in Massachusetts was a “positive impact plan” to state regulators, outlining its goals to employ people from communities disproportionately impacted by marijuana-related incarceration.

Ascend planned to hire five to six people from the Suffolk sheriff’s program annually to work its retail locations, though a former HR executive earlier in the week testified there were only about two hires during his time there.

Tompkins’ defense team has argued the sheriff’s department program was just one part of Ascend’s positive impact plan and that the company’s success did not hinge solely on this relationship with the sheriff’s office. They have said Tompkins’ alleged grasp over Perullo is inflated and that he did not extort his one-time campaign consultant.

Defense attorney Martin Weinberg told jurors in his opening statement that Ascend executives “weren’t dependent on Steven Tompkins” and that “he had no power over them.”

Behind this alleged power dynamic is a longstanding political relationship between Perullo, Tompkins and Andrea Cabral — Tompkins’ predecessor as sheriff, who was later tapped by Perullo as Ascend’s chief executive in Massachusetts.

Perullo, a former Democratic strategist, helped run successful sheriff campaigns for both Cabral and Tompkins, friends from their Boston College days who went on to be political allies.

Perullo said it was Cabral who first suggested that Ascend forge a partnership with the sheriff’s department to fulfill requirements under its community impact plan.

In his direct testimony, Perullo outlined how he helped run Tompkins’ 2014 special election to the sheriff’s seat, how they would occasionally dine together or go to the movies and became friends. Perullo set up an organization and “worked pretty hard to make sure he won the race,” he testified.

Perullo, a 1994 Lynnfield High graduate who later dropped out of Suffolk University, said he sold marijuana on the side as he waited tables during college. He eventually joined Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office to help with voter registry, leaving in 2001 to start a political consultancy for candidates running for local office.

He co-founded Ascend Wellness in 2018 with business partner Abner Kurtin after a 2012 ballot initiative in Massachusetts legalized the sale of medical cannabis.

Jurors have seen reams of email snippets and exhibits during trial, including  Ascend’s prospectus and other documents presented by government lawyers. They’ve looked intently at computer monitors displaying the exhibits. Some are taking notes.

Tompkins had a small group of supporters in the courtroom on Friday. He greeted them with a smile, shaking hands with a few or embracing them. The sheriff, whose seat at the defense table is just a few feet to the side of the witness stand, has mostly looked straight ahead, sometimes leaning back in his chair, occasionally turning to whisper to his attorney.

He and Perullo avoided making any direct eye contact, except when Perullo testified about Tompkins’ investment request. Tompkins pivoted his chair so his frame faced the witness bench. Hands clasped, he stared intently at Perullo during that portion of testimony.

Perullo testified he ultimately allowed the investment to move forward because he worried the sheriff’s program would fall apart and Ascend would have to find another community partnership program, which would “delay our opening quite a bit.”

“At that point, the company just needed to open dispensaries. It had taken going on three years,” Perullo said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao also showed the witness the company’s code of business conduct and ethics for executives, which required that “higher standards of conduct apply when government officials or government employees are involved.” Chao asked Perullo if he had been acting in accordance with this code of conduct when agreeing to sell shares to Tompkins.

“I was not,” Perullo replied.

Perullo testified he entered into an agreement with the government to fully cooperate with its investigation after FBI officials knocked on his door sometime around August or September of 2024.

The government is expected to rest its case Monday. The defense is expected to call several witnesses, including Cabral. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun said he wants the jury to be handed the case by the end of next week.