Among the expenditures made using the procurement card issued to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office in fiscal 2025 were a trip to the Bahamas, another to a Florida resort, stops at upscale dining establishments, and time spent at Top Golf.
The State Comptrollers Office states that department heads are in charge of monitoring how their state-issued procurement credit lines, or P-cards, are being used. The Herald’s analysis of spending records reveals that in fiscal 2025, the card or cards linked to Sheriff Steven Tompkins’ office were used to spend a minimum of $133,282.09.
While in Florida on Friday, Tompkins was taken into custody and charged with two crimes connected to a purported extortion conspiracy. When asked why the sheriff was in Florida, the sheriff’s office did not respond.
Nevertheless, an examination of the Department’s expenditures reveals that Tompkins or another member of his department visited the Sunshine State on multiple occasions throughout the previous fiscal year.
Two expenditures for the Connecticut casino facility Mohegan Sun are among the first transactions in the fiscal 2025 spending documents made available to the Herald. The sheriff’s office P-card account was used twice last year, for $143.75 in July and $724.70 in October, according to state data.
In August of the following year, the taxpayers received a $5,329.95 bill for five transactions that were identified as being for The Drury Inn in New Orleans, Louisiana.The Drury Plaza Hotel, as it is formally known, is located in the center of the Big Easy, close to Caesar’s Superdome, the Smoothie King Center, Bourbon Street, Canal Street, the French Quarter, and the Riverwalk.
Someone spent $668.31 at the Creole House Restaurant & Oyster Bar while they were there.
Additionally, in August, the card was used to purchase $179.55 worth of items from Luberto’s Pastry Shop in Revere and to send $500 to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. The taxpayers paid $5,405.25 for four transactions at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans later that month.
A $901.20 purchase from David’s Northern Italian Steakhouse in the Seaport marked the beginning of September 2024. Given that the card was used there for another $254.72 purchase in April of the following year, it must have been a good experience.
In October, two rooms at the Caesar’s Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino were reserved for $757.36 apiece, and the front desk of the casino cost an extra $30.08.
Five days later, two rooms at the Courtyard Lenox Berkshires in Lenox cost $303.82 each, and five days after, two transactions at the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center cost $106.12. The next day, another $280.60 was charged at Sturbridge.
The Sheriff’s Office paid $1,787.95 at Top Golf in Canton for their P-Card in November 2024. They spent an additional $1,787.95 there the following month, in December, indicating that they had a great time. Additionally, $6,515.25 was spent at Boston’s five-star Liberty Hotel in November.
Two transactions totaling $2,101.02 were made at a Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C., in the New Year.
The P-card was used to make eight purchases with the Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Florida, on different occasions in March, April, and May of 2025, totaling $3,847.65. According to the company’s description of the hotel, it is the finest luxury resort in South Florida.
The Harbor View Hotel, another five-star establishment in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, saw five transactions totaling $548 in March, for a total expenditure of $2,490. At about the same time, five purchases totaling $2,841.99. were made at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore, Maryland, using the P-card.
In April, $922.00 was spent at the seafood restaurant in Dorchester called The Pearl South Bay using the P-card.
Six transactions at the Margaritaville Beach Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, were made using the card a few weeks later. The taxpayers paid $6,525.09 for that vacation, of which $1,985.76 was designated for dining establishments and restaurants.
The state’s P-card regulations specifically indicate that using the card to pay for meals, snacks, or coffee is prohibited, whether or not the card is being used for travel.
However, the sheriff’s office P-card was used to pay $2,194.00 at the Brockton Meat Market, $2,000 for a caterer named Everybody Gotta Eat, $890.67 at several Dunkin Donuts locations in Brockton and Boston, $158.36 and $184.22 at Felcaro Pizzeria, and $225.63, $155.55, and $92.07 at the Andrew Square House of Pizza in fiscal 2025.
Additionally, the card was used to pay $9,424.77 for travel and flight upgrades on JetBlue, $6,108.26 for flights and upgrades on Delta, $10,026.10 for a variety of Amazon transactions, and $6,217.80 twice for Zoom business services.
On Friday, Tompkins is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston. Despite his indictment, he is still the sheriff of Suffolk County and the head of the board of trustees at Roxbury Community College.
A request for an explanation of their expenditures was not answered by his office.
