By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
PORTSMOUTH – Indicted and placed on administrative leave along with his wife, a state Supreme Court Justice, New Hampshire Ports and Harbors Director Geno Marconi, 73, has retired from state service, Pease Development Authority Board of Trustees Chairman Steve Duprey announced at its meeting Tuesday.
“We have been advised by the NH Retirement System that Director Marconi has submitted his paperwork to retire effective Jan. 1 of this year, and I think that is public information although we did not get the notice directly from the employee,” Duprey said at the outset of the meeting.
Marconi was indicted for allegedly falsifying physical evidence by deleting a voicemail/and or voicemails from a phone on April 22, 2024. He was also indicted for allegedly retaliating against PDA Board Vice Chairman Neil Levesque by providing confidential motor vehicle records pertaining to Levesque to Bradley Cook, in violation of the Driver Privacy Act.
Marconi was placed on administrative leave in April and his wife, state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi was put on paid leave from the court in July.
Hantz Marconi has been indicted separately for allegedly asking Gov. Chris Sununu to interfere with Attorney General John Formella’s investigation into her husband, calling it “petty” and politically motivated, and is accused of also asking for help from Duprey.
Marconi of Stratham pleaded not guilty to witness tampering and destroying evidence as director of the state Division of Ports and Harbors and argued for less restrictive bail conditions in Rockingham County Superior Court in late November of 2024.
Richard Samdperil, representing Marconi, argued against the state Attorney General’s bail recommendation that Marconi not be allowed contact with any member of the Pease Development Authority board or employees of the Division of Ports and Harbors, which is overseen by the PDA.
Assistant Attorney General Dan Jimenez told Judge Andrew Schulman those individuals are likely to be witnesses at Marconi’s trial. No date has been set for the trial.
Jimenez said the state only wanted a no contact order, which would not cover incidental meetings, not a stay away order, but Samdperil said it would be unusual at this stage in the proceedings to be bound by a no contact order because someone was a potential witness.
“Mr. Marconi has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is presumed innocent,” Samdperil said.
The defense said it had no problem with a no contact order for the individual named in the indictment (Neil Levesque) or Bradley Cook, who was also indicted, or Duprey.
Levesque, who is vice chairman of the PDA board and also the director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, is the complaining witness in one of the indictments against Marconi.
Marconi’s bail included personal recognizance meaning he promised to show up at hearings, but didn’t have to put up any money.
Cook, who before he was indicted spoke out publicly in favor of Marconi, was indicted for perjury for allegedly making a false statement to the grand jury by saying he did not communicate with/and or receive materials from Geno Marconi relating to Neil Levesque’s pier permit.
