The former deputy superintendent of the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Wednesday on charges he extorted employees to perform free labor at his home.
Thomas Brady, 53, of Norwood, was indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of extortion and three counts of use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Brady served as assistant deputy superintendent for jail operations at the sheriff’s office from 2021 to May 2023. From December 2021 to mid-November 2022, he ordered subordinate maintenance employees to do repair work at his home both during and after work hours, beginning with installing a new shower head in late 2021.
Brady drove one of the employees, referred to in charging documents as “Maintenance Officer A,” to his home to install the shower head during the employee’s work shift, then drove them back to the sheriff’s office to complete their shift, officials said.
Then, on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, Brady contacted Maintenance Officer A to fix his water heater, according to charging documents. The employee was busy that day, but went to Brady’s home the next day instead of going to work. There, they disconnected the broken water heater and drove it and Brady to Home Depot, where Brady purchased a new 50-gallon water heater that Maintenance Officer A brought back to his house and installed. The employee then drove to the sheriff’s office for the rest of the work day.
On Oct. 6 of that year, another employee, referred to as “Maintenance Officer B,” went to Brady’s home during work hours after Brady asked them to fix his heating system. Brady contacted the employee again later when he had subsequent issues with the heating system, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In a text exchange on Oct. 15, a coworker, “Maintenance Officer C,” told Maintenance Officer B that Brady was looking for them.
“What the [expletive] do I do,” Maintenance Officer B wrote back.
On Nov. 1 and 2, Maintenance Officers B and C went to Brady’s home, where they drained the hot water system, removed the circulator pump and installed a new pump, officials said.
Maintenance Officers A and B told federal investigators that they feared if they didn’t follow Brady’s orders, they would lose their preferred shift, their position or their job at the sheriff’s office.
Brady was expected to appear in federal court in Boston Wednesday afternoon.
The charge of extortion provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The charge of use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
