It took less than 15 minutes for New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi to enter her plea on Tuesday. But that brief hearing brought to a sudden end the year-long criminal case in which state prosecutors accused her of trying to wield her influence as one of the state’s top judges on behalf of her husband, who is facing legal troubles.
Inside a Concord courtroom, Hantz Marconi pleaded no contest to a single charge of criminal solicitation stemming from a private conversation she had with then-Gov. Chris Sununu last June. At the time, Hantz Marconi’s husband, Geno Marconi, the state port director, was under investigation for allegedly sharing confidential records, and she was forced to recuse herself from all cases involving the New Hampshire Department of Justice. Prosecutors alleged she tried to steer Sununu to intervene on her husband’s behalf, though Sununu himself said he disagreed with that claim.
During the brief hearing Tuesday, Hantz Marconi told Judge Martin Honigberg that she understood the plea and its ramifications. Friends and supporters filled the rows of the small courtroom.
The plea deal comes with a $1,200 fine and additional court fees of $288, but no jail time. By pleading “no contest,” Hantz Marconi does not dispute that the state had sufficient evidence to convict her, but she makes no admission of guilt.
While the plea marked the end of a criminal case that had been careening towards a November trial — with the prospect of jail time given the severity of the charges against her — Hantz Marconi’s battles are not over. Her law license remains suspended, and she has an open case before the Judicial Conduct Committee, which reviews allegations of impropriety by the state’s judges.
Following the plea hearing, the New Hampshire Supreme Court announced it was lifting its administrative suspension of Hantz Marconi, but said that she would not resume her judicial duties until she was reinstated to practice law again in New Hampshire.
Deputy Attorney General James Boffetti said that the resolution of the court case was a “sad day” for the state, but that Hantz Marconi’s conduct crossed a serious line.
“Her actions violated those core principles and represented a serious breach of the public trust,” he told reporters following the hearing. “This conviction today reinforces a fundamental principle of our justice system that no one is above the law, not even a justice of the Supreme Court.”
Hantz Marconi declined to speak with reporters after Tuesday’s hearing. Richard Guerriero, her attorney, said in a statement that his client “continues to disagree with the Attorney General’s characterization of her actions.”
He said she entered the plea to avoid the spectacle of a high profile trial. “She looks forward to getting back to work,” Guerriero added.
Hantz Marconi will turn 70 in February, which is the mandatory retirement age for judges in the state. Sununu first appointed her to the Supreme Court in 2017.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, state prosecutors agreed to classify her actions as not a “serious crime.” That distinction could be important as it pertains to Hantz Marconi’s efforts to regain her law license, which remains suspended. The code of conduct for attorneys in New Hampshire spells out possible consequences for engaging in serious crimes, but doesn’t appear to lay out potential ramifications for lesser offenses.
Her husband, Geno Marconi, remains on administrative leave from his job as state ports director by the New Hampshire Port Authority, after he was indicted for allegedly sharing confidential motor vehicle records related to a member of the board of the Pease Development Authority, which oversees the state’s ports. Prosecutors say Geno Marconi was retaliating against that board member, though they have provided no details beyond that. Marconi has pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled for trial early next year.
Had it taken place as scheduled, Hantz Marconi’s trial could have drawn in some of the most high-profile members of the state’s legal and political circles. Sununu was expected to testify, and it was possible that Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, as well as fellow justices, could also have been called as witnesses. Hantz Marconi claims she sought out MacDonald’s advice on whether she could meet with Sununu to advocate for her husband, a claim the chief justice later denied.
Both Sununu and MacDonald sat for interviews with prosecutors, as did Rudy Ogden, who was serving as Sununu’s legal counsel and was the only other person in the room during the June 2024 between the governor and Hantz Marconi.
In his interview with investigators, Sununu said that while he found the encounter with Hantz Marconi “awkward,” he did not believe she crossed any ethical lines in requesting favorable treatment for her husband.
In addition to her contacts with Sununu, Hantz Marconi was also accused of attempting to influence Steve Duprey, the head of the board that oversees the Pease Development Authority, regarding the investigation into her husband.
(Duprey serves on the NHPR Board of Directors, but has no influence over the station’s news coverage.)
