(BOSTON) — Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins was arrested Thursday on federal extortion charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Federal prosecutors allege the 67-year-old Massachusetts sheriff had pressured a cannabis company executive for a secret investment deal worth $50,000.

Tompkins, who had led the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since 2013 and oversaw about 1,000 employees, was arrested in Florida and charged with two counts of extortion, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

According to federal court documents, Tompkins had used his position as sheriff to force his way into buying pre-IPO (initial public offering) stock in a Boston cannabis company at a discounted price. When the investment later lost value, prosecutors alleged he

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