In a stunning breach of public trust, New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, 69, has been convicted of corruption, as the Daily Mail reports. This marks a historic low as she becomes the first convicted criminal to serve on the state’s high court.
The conviction stems from actions dating back to June 2024, when Hantz Marconi met with then-Gov. Chris Sununu.
She sought details about a criminal probe involving her husband, Geno Marconi, 73, director of the N.H. Port Authority.
Prosecutors claim she dismissed the investigation as baseless, suggesting personal or political bias drove the case. Such interference from a sitting justice raises serious questions about the integrity of our judicial system.
Hantz Marconi entered a no-contest plea, not admitting guilt but conceding the state had ample evidence. This legal maneuver hardly absolves the gravity of her actions in the eyes of law-abiding citizens.
Remarkably, just a week after her conviction, around Oct. 14, she returned to the bench. Her apparent lack of remorse, evidenced by a reported smile, is a slap in the face to justice itself.
Meanwhile, her husband, Geno, is embroiled in his own legal quagmire at Rye Harbor. His family’s business, Geno’s Chowder & Sandwich Shop, clashes with a rival lobster shack, the Lobster Pound, sparking intense disputes.
Geno faces two felony charges -- witness tampering and destroying evidence -- plus four misdemeanors. Prosecutors allege he schemed to obtain driving records of Neil Levesque, a Pease Development Authority director who flagged Geno’s alleged mismanagement.
The Lobster Pound, leasing space from the PDA, has sued Geno and others for extortion and intimidation. Their legal filing accuses him of anti-competitive tactics to shield his family’s eatery from rivalry.
Geno allegedly conspired with Bradley Cook, a ports advisory council chairman, to leak records and erase incriminating voicemails. Cook now faces perjury charges for denying contact with Geno under oath.
The motive behind leaking Levesque’s records remains murky, though it may have aimed to undermine the Lobster Pound’s position. Such underhanded tactics, if proven, reveal a disturbing abuse of power at taxpayers’ expense.
Geno, placed on paid leave amid the scandal, has since filed for retirement. He vows to contest the charges at his trial in November, but public confidence in his leadership is understandably shaken.
“It's incredibly serious. I mean, you're talking about an independent grand jury indicting a very high-level public official like that and public servant,” said former N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu to WMUR9 regarding the situation. While Sununu’s words underscore the gravity of the situation, one must question if political agendas lurk behind this probe. In an era where President Donald Trump champions draining the swamp, selective prosecutions must be scrutinized.
“I really, first and foremost, really appreciate the attorney general. He's done a phenomenal job. He holds everybody to an incredibly high standard. And I think that's commendable. It's a lot of work on his department's part,” Sununu added to WMUR9.
Sununu’s praise for the attorney general is noted, yet conservatives might wonder if this same zeal targets progressive figures with equal fervor. Justice must be blind, not a tool for settling personal or partisan scores in N.H. or beyond.
