Suffolk County Sheriff Stephen Tompkins, 67, was arrested in Florida today after a federal grand jury in Boston indicted him on charges he extorted $50,000 from a cannabis concern seeking to open shop in Massachusetts - a concern that at the time employed his predecessor as Suffolk County sheriff.

A federal grand jury indicted Tompkins earlier this month; the indictment was unsealed this morning in US District Court, shortly before he was scheduled to appear at a hearing there.

The indictment charges that when "Company A" sought a license to open a dispensary in Boston in 2019 and 2020, it reached a deal with Tompkins for his office to recommend recently released inmates for training and hiring at the company's dispensary, as part of its required "positive impact plan" for helping people

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