(The Center Square) — A New Hampshire Supreme Court Associate Justice has been indicted on felony charges alleging that she pressured Republican Gov. Chris Sununu to drop a state investigation of her husband.
Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi has been charged with two class B felonies and five misdemeanors for allegedly interfering with the criminal investigation of her husband, Geno Marconi, the director of the New Hampshire Port Authority, who was indicted on separate charges on Thursday. She has also been charged with five misdemeanors, including criminal solicitation and obstructing a government administration.
In a statement on Hantz Marconi’s indictment, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said the “evidence in this case required investigation and presentation to the grand jury” and that “no person is above the law.”
“The decision to charge a sitting Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court was not made lightly, and it comes after careful and thoughtful deliberation,” Formella said in a statement Wednesday. “It is my hope that the public will be reassured that all individuals, including public officials, are treated equally under the law.”
Hantz Marconi, a former Republican leader who has been on administrative leave since July, issued a statement through her attorneys claiming she “did not violate any law or rule” and vowing to fight the charges.
“We will fight the charges to the fullest extent permitted by the law, starting with motions to dismiss the case which we anticipate filing soon,” the statement said. “We intend to fight these wrongful accusations in court, where the fight should occur, and not in the media.”
Prosecutors allege that Hantz Marconi asked Sununu to intervene in the investigation of her husband, arguing the case stemmed from “personal, petty and/or political biases” and had “no merit” to the allegations.
Hantz Marconi allegedly told Sununu that 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,” the indictment stated.
In a separate indictment revealed on Thursday, Geno Marconi was charged with two felonies alleging witness tampering and falsifying evidence, as well as several misdemeanor charges, according to the justice department.
The indictment alleges that Marconi gave confidential motor vehicle records to another person and tried to cover up the illegal activity by deleting voicemails.
Bradley Joseph Cook, chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council, was indicted on felony charges of perjury and giving a false statement to investigators as part of the case against Geno Marconi, according to the state agency.
Sununu told a local TV news station that the charges against Hantz Marconi are “incredibly serious” and praised Formella’s office for pursuing the investigation of the embattled associate justice.
“I mean, you’re talking about an independent grand jury indicting a very high-level public official like that and public servant,” he said.
