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

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

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

Geno Marconi faces two felonies — witness tampering and falsifying evidence — and four misdemeanors — obstructing government administration and violating driver privacy. Bradley Cook, chair of the port division’s advisory council, also was 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 attorney did not respond to a phone message.

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

“Any time you have an independent grand jury indicting a public servant that is an extremely serious situation,” he told reporters in Manchester before the new indictments were released. “I give our attorney general a lot of credit, he’s making sure not just in this case, but all across the state, everyone, needs to be held - especially public servants – to a very high standard.”

Geno Marconi has been on paid leave since April. Justice Marconi was put on administrative leave in July. Her lawyers said she is innocent and didn’t violate any law or rule.