New Hampshire’s port director and his wife, a judge, are both facing criminal charges

CONCORD, N.H. — The director of New Hampshire’s Ports and Ports Department has been charged with witness tampering and other crimes, the attorney general’s office said Thursday, a day after announcing related charges against the wife of the agency’s head. a state Supreme Court justice.

Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi was charged with two felonies and five misdemeanors, alleging that she asked Gov. Chris Sununu to influence the attorney general’s investigation into her husband, telling him it “needed to be concluded quickly.” Authorities have not disclosed the nature of that investigation, but Attorney General John Formella said Thursday that Geno Marconi has been accused of interfering with it by deleting voicemails and providing confidential motor vehicle data to a third party.

Geno Marconi faces two felonies – tampering with witnesses and falsifying evidence – and four misdemeanors – obstructing government administration and violating the privacy of administrators. Bradley Cook, chairman of the Port Division Advisory Board, was also charged with perjury and false swearing and is accused of lying to a grand jury about Marconi.

Cook did not respond to an email seeking comment; Marconi’s lawyer did not respond to a telephone message.

Earlier Thursday, Sununu praised Formella but said he could not comment on the specific allegations against the judge, whom he appointed in 2017.

“Any time an independent grand jury indicts a public servant, it is an extremely serious situation,” he told reporters in Manchester before the new charges were released. “I give our attorney general a lot of credit. He is ensuring that not only in this case, but across the state, everyone – especially public servants – is held to a very high standard.”

Geno Marconi has been on paid leave since April. Judge Marconi was placed on administrative leave in July. Her lawyers said she is innocent and has not broken any laws or regulations.