A justice with the New Hampshire Supreme Court has been indicted for allegedly trying to interfere with a criminal investigation into her husband.
Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi is facing two felony charges and five misdemeanors, Attorney General John Formella announced Wednesday.
Hantz Marconi is accused of acting to interfere with an investigation into her husband, Geno Marconi, prosecutors said.
The justice is charged with felony counts of attempting to commit improper influence and criminal solicitation of improper influence. The misdemeanors she faces include official oppression, criminal solicitation of official oppression, obstructing government administration, and two counts of criminal solicitation of misuse of position.
"No person is above the law, and the evidence in this case required investigation and presentation to the grand jury," Formella said in a statement. "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. It is my hope that the public will be reassured that all individuals, including public officials, are treated equally under the law."
The longtime head of the New Hampshire Port Authority, Geno Marconi has been on paid administrative leave since April, the Portsmouth Herald reported, noting that officials did not give a reason.
The Boston Globe reports that Gov. Jeanne Shaheen nominated Marconi to the post in 2002. Four years later, state prosecutors investigated his use of racist slurs about someone of Middle Eastern descent. Marconi apologized to the New Hampshire Executive Council, which reappointed him to another term. Shaheen's successor, Gov. John Lynch, did not veto the decision.
According to a copy of the indictment shared by the Globe, Hantz Marconi told Gov. Chris Sununu that the investigation into her husband "was the result of personal, petty and/or political biases; that there was no merit to allegations against or subsequent investigation into Geno Marconi; and/or that the investigation into Geno Marconi needed to wrap up quickly because she was recused from important cases pending or imminently pending before the New Hampshire Supreme Court." She is also accused of soliciting the governor "to misuse his position."
Prosecutors did not give any information on the allegations against Marconi.
"The investigation into this matter is complete," a press release from the attorney general read. "No other individuals were targets of this investigation and the investigation did not uncover wrongdoing by any other person."
Formella's office noted that the felony charges against Hantz Marconi each carry a sentence of three-and-a-half to seven years in state prison and a fine as high as $4,000, while each misdemeanor count is punishable by up to a year in a house of corrections and a fine of up to $2,000.
