[6] In 1909, he served as legal counsel for Hattie Le Blanc, a 16-year-old Acadian maid from West Arichat, Nova Scotia, accused of murdering her employer, Clarence F. Glover of East Cambridge.

From 1910 to 1914, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he served as chairman of the committees on engrossed bills and legal affairs.

During his tenure as DA, Tufts personally obtained evidence that led to the conviction of the unsolved murder of a child.

He also obtained the convictions of Francisco Feci for the murder of Louis Fred Soulia, Frank S. Ramey for the assault of Mildred Wanamaker, and Charles S. Whittemore, Louis "Poco" Bennett, and Charles Mortalli for their roles in the armed robbery of the Everett General Electric Plant's payroll.

[9] He later accused Tufts and attorneys Daniel H. Coakley and William J. Corcoran of extorting money from Paramount Studio executives (including Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, and Hiram Abrams) who attended a party at Mishawum Manor, a Woburn, Massachusetts, brothel.

[15] He claimed that the large amount of money he deposited in his bank around the time of the alleged extortion was a gift from his dying father.

[16] On October 1, 1921, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found Tufts guilty of misconduct or breach of duty in the Barney, Mishawum Manor, and a number of other cases and removed him from office.