Geno Marconi walks in to Rockingham County Superior Court for a bail hearing on Nov. 27. The state port authority director has been on paid leave since April and is facing felony charges of witness tampering and falsifying evidence.
A judge gave Port Authority Director Geno Marconi leniency on whom he can have contact with as a case against him on felony charges of witness tampering and falsifying evidence proceeds.
Marconi, 73, who has been on paid leave since April, appeared before Judge Andrew Schulman in Rockingham County Superior Court for a bail hearing Wednesday afternoon, at which his attorney Richard Samdperil argued Marconi should not be barred from having contact with a list of 14 potential witnesses in the case.
Marconi waived arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Marconi faces two felony and four misdemeanor indictments which allege he shared protected motor vehicle details and pier permit fee information about Neil Levesque, vice chairman of the Pease Development Authority (PDA).
Levesque, an avid fisherman who lives in Rye, is also director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is identified in court documents only as “NL.”
Geno Marconi walks in to Rockingham County Superior Court for a bail hearing on Nov. 27. The state port authority director has been on paid leave since April and is facing felony charges of witness tampering and falsifying evidence.
Jonathan Phelps/Union Leader
Prosecutor Dan Jimenez said the list of potential witnesses included board members of the Pease Development Authority and employees of the Division of Ports and Harbors. It includes Levesque, PDA Chairman Stephen M. Duprey, and Bradley Cook, chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council. Cook has been indicted on related charges in the case.
“All the individuals listed in our no-contact provision, your honor, are likely to be witnesses at the trial wherein the defendant is charged with tampering with witnesses and falsifying physical evidence,” Jimenez told Schulman.
Samdperil argued that Marconi is a “73-year-old with no prior criminal history who has spent his life working on the Seacoast, living on the Seacoast.” He has social contact with many on the list.
‘Simple charge’
The prosecution has not provided the defense with any evidence in the case and no affidavit is available.
“There is a single charge of witness tampering that doesn’t involve any of these people,” he said. “None of these people, as far as I know, have claimed to be intimidated or harassed in any way.”
Schulman ruled that Marconi “shall not discuss the facts of this case” with anyone on the list. If any of the people indicated directly or indirectly do not wish contact then Marconi should have no contact, direct or indirect or through third parties.
The indictments allege that on April 4, Port chief Marconi had shared Levesque’s personal driver’s license information with Cook.
Cook was also indicted on felony perjury and misdemeanor false swearing charges.
Cook waived arraignment and did not appear in court on Wednesday.
Marconi’s wife, Supreme Court Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi of Stratham, was indicted by a Merrimack County grand jury on seven felony and misdemeanor charges that she tried to pressure Gov. Chris Sununu and PDA Chairman Steve Duprey of Concord to bring the investigation of her husband to an end.
The judge was placed on administrative leave by the court on July 25.
Hantz Marconi is set to be arraigned on Dec. 2 at Merrimack County Superior Court.
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