Embattled Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins has started his own legal defense fund as he faces an extortion charge in federal court.
Tompkins filed the paper work for the “Steve Tompkins Legal Defense Fund” last Thursday, citing his federal case as the purpose for the committee.
Federal prosecutors indicted Tompkins in August, accusing the sheriff of trying to squeeze a Boston-based cannabis company for stock just before it was about to go public.
Tompkins has denied the charge and initially remained active in his elected sheriff’s position until taking medical leave from the county office a few weeks after the indictment.
The defense fund will allow Tompkins to accept donations specifically for his legal fees from businesses and individuals. He can also shuffle money from his campaign fund to the legal fund, although his campaign finance statements show no cash on hand currently for the political account.
Tompkins’ base salary for the year is over $183,000, according to state payroll information.
According to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, candidates can only use legal defense funds “to pay litigation expenses incurred in connection with alleged actions of a candidate while the candidate was acting as a public official,” and matters “not primarily personal in nature.”
Since the legal battle started, a lawyer for Tompkins has filed motions to throw out certain evidence and dismiss the case altogether.
The motion for dismissal denies the counts against Tompkins, but notes that even if they are true, they don’t constitute a quid pro quo agreement, which would be required to meet the standards of “extortion under color of official right” charge.
The purchase of equity and subsequent refund occurred after Tompkins had engaged with the cannabis company in an official capacity, which Tompkins lawyer said made it “at the very most, a mere gratuity.”
Tompkins’ lawyers also argued in a separate motion to suppress evidence from his Comcast and Google emails that affidavits submitted to create a search warrant for the accounts did not offer adequate probable cause for bribery and were too broad.
A hearing on Tompkins’ motion to suppress is scheduled for Wednesday.
Tompkins could not be reached for comment through his attorney by press time.
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