A day after state Supreme Court Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi was indicted, her husband, Geno Joseph Marconi, and his colleague Bradley Joseph Cook, are now also facing criminal charges.
Geno Marconi was charged with two felonies — tampering with witnesses and informants and falsifying evidence — and two misdemeanor counts of Driver Privacy Act violations and two misdemeanor counts of obstructing government administration.
Cook was charged with perjury and two misdemeanor counts of false swearing.
The nature and context of the investigation was not clear and detailed court documents were not available at the time the indictments were announced.
Geno Marconi, a 73-year-old Stratham resident, is director of New Hampshire’s Division of Ports and Harbors of the Pease Development Authority. Cook, of Hampton, is chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council. A Rockingham County Superior Court grand jury indicted both men Thursday in Brentwood.
The state accuses Geno Marconi of providing confidential motor-vehicle records pertaining to two people and deleting a voicemail message or messages related to the investigation in April, according to court records.
Cook is accused of falsely testifying before a grand jury that he did not communicate and/or receive materials from Geno Marconi relating to a pier permit for another person.
Also on Thursday, the New Hampshire Supreme Court extended Hantz Marconi’s paid administrative leave while she’s facing criminal charges. Geno Marconi has been on administrative leave with pay since April.
In a written statement, judicial branch officials did not specify how long Hantz Marconi’s leave would last, saying only that it was “pending further developments relating to the criminal case in which she is a defendant.”
Hantz Marconi, one of five justices on the state Supreme Court, was benched for 90 days on July 25, but the court did not say why. Since then, she has had no judicial or administrative duties at the court. The court reassigned her duties to other justices.
The State of New Hampshire v. Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi alleges she told Gov. Chris Sununu that the investigation of her husband, Geno Marconi, was, “the result of personal, petty, and/or political biases” and there was no merit to the allegations against him.
“Anytime you have an independent grand jury indicting a public servant, that’s an incredibly serious situation,” Sununu said Thursday.
Hantz Marconi is also accused of telling Sununu the investigation of her husband “needed to wrap up quickly because she was recused from important cases pending or imminently pending before the New Hampshire Supreme Court,” according to court documents.
The indictments go on to say Hantz Marconi solicited Sununu “to improperly influence a member and/or members of the New Hampshire Department of Justice regarding an investigation into Geno Marconi.”
“I give the attorney general a lot of credit not just in this case but across the state,” Sununu said. “Everyone needs to be held to a very high standard regardless of political party, regardless of background, there is a standard of transparency that we ensure gets brought to the table.”
Sununu declined further comment and deferred to prosecutors when asked if he considered the conversation that Hantz Marconi had with him about her husband a crime.
Hantz Marconi was also charged with five misdemeanors — criminal solicitation of official oppression, official oppression, obstructing government administration and two counts of criminal solicitation of misuse of position.
Geno Marconi and Cook are scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 27 in superior court in Brentwood. If convicted, they each could face 3½ to 7 years in state prison for their felony charges and up to a year for the misdemeanors.
If convicted, Hantz Marconi could face 3½ to 7 years in state prison for each felony charge and up to a year for each misdemeanor.
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