AG's Office Strikes Out: Third Defendant In Marconi Scandal Gets No Jail Time

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

Continuing the trend out of Attorney General John Formella’s office, Geno Marconi’s criminal co-defendant, Bradley Cook, is entering into a plea deal that will keep him out of jail.

It’s been just over a year since Marconi, Cook, and Marconi’s wife, New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, were indicted on felonies for their alleged roles in a scandal involving Marconi’s actions as director of the Division of Ports and Harbors.

But in the last month, both Marconi and Hantz Marconi walked away with plea deals that imposed minimal punishment. Hantz Marconi even got to keep her law license, and she has returned to her job on the Supreme Court.

Cook, the former chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council, was indicted last year on one Class B felony charge for perjury as well as two counts of Class A misdemeanor false swearing as part of the case against former Ports Director Geno Marconi.

Tuesday afternoon, Cook’s lawyer, Anthony Naro, filed notice of an intent to enter into a plea agreement. Under the deal, Cook will plead guilty to one Class B misdemeanor for obstructing government administration. He won’t serve any jail time, but he will pay a $1,200 fine.

Cook allegedly accepted copies of Pease Development Authority Vice Chair Neil Levesque’s vehicle registrations from Marconi. Last week, Marconi pleaded to a misdemeanor for violating the Driver Privacy Act as part of his plea agreement. Marconi paid $2,000 and received a 30-day suspended jail sentence.

Marconi’s deal came two weeks after Hantz Marconi agreed to plead no contest to a Class B misdemeanor for allegedly trying to get Gov. Chris Sununu involved in the investigation. Her punishment was a fine and a rapid return to the court.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office reportedly investigated Marconi for years. It has come out through court filings that investigators were looking into accusations Marconi took illegal kickbacks and engaged in COVID relief fraud. They also reportedly looked at a 20-year-old embezzlement case involving other former Ports employees.

What do those accusations all have in common? Investigators never produced evidence to charge Marconi.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.