UPDATED Dec. 3, 2022 and Dec. 6, 2022
CONCORD – The businessman who is building a commercial greenhouse complex in Berlin has been charged with voting twice in the Nov. 8, 2016, general election.
Richard Rosen, 83, of Belmont, Mass., and Holderness, N.H., has been indicted on one felony count of wrongful voting related to voting twice in that election, a class B felony, according to a news release from Attorney General John Formella.
In 2016, Rosen was registered in Holderness as a Republican and is no longer on the voter checklist, according to Town Clerk Ellen King.
Rosen is the CEO of American Ag Energy, and its subsidiary North Country Growers LLC, has been working since 2017 to get the high-tech greenhouse project off the ground.
“Mr. Rosen knowingly checked in at the checklist at the Belmont, Mass., polling place and cast a Massachusetts ballot after having already cast an absentee ballot in the same election in Holderness, N.H.,” Formella said.
Class B felony charges carry a penalty range of 3½ to seven years in prison and a fine of up $2,000. Additionally, pursuant to the New Hampshire Constitution, anyone convicted of a willful violation of the state’s election laws will lose the right to vote in this state. Rosen is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 21.
This case is being prosecuted Deputy General Counsel Myles Matteson and Attorney Matt Conley of the Election Law Unit. The investigation was conducted by Chief Investigator Richard Tracy.
Rosen is well-known in the North Country for his work in getting the project going.
His attorney Cathy Green said in an email Saturday: “Richard Rosen adamantly denies that he committed any crime, and looks forward to vindication through the legal process.”
Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier said Friday he was unaware of the voting charge against Rosen.
Grenier said construction site work on the property has been done and construction begun on the property the company purchased from the city.
Rosen has said the two 10-acre greenhouses will produce 8 million pounds of tomatoes and 15 million heads of lettuce yearly and create 80 jobs.
