When a seven-count indictment against a New Hampshire Supreme Court justice was announced last fall, the news rocketed across the state.
The justice, Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, was accused of asking one of New Hampshire’s best-known politicians — former Gov. Chris Sununu — to interfere in a criminal case against her husband.
The dual criminal cases threatened to derail the careers of both Hantz Marconi and her husband, Geno Marconi, the longtime head of the state's Division of Ports and Harbors. But only one member of the family has emerged with her job firmly intact.
Hantz Marconi, 69, is scheduled to return to the bench Wednesday, a move that surprised the prosecutors who brought the case.
“That’s not a decision we expected,” said state Attorney General John Formella, adding that he was disappointed.
Formella said Hantz Marconi’s conduct “was unlawful and unethical, and it undermines confidence in our criminal justice system.”
A spokesman for the New Hampshire Judicial Branch declined to comment Tuesday.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment emailed to Sununu’s website Tuesday. When Hantz Marconi was charged in 2024, then-Gov. Sununu called the indictment an “extremely serious situation,” the Concord Monitor reported at the time. “Everyone needs to be held, especially public servants, to a very high standard,” he said.
Hantz Marconi's return to the bench capped a dizzying past several days.
Last week, Hantz Marconi struck a plea deal after multiple attempts to get the charges dismissed failed. She pleaded no contest to a single count of criminal solicitation related to the misuse of her position, a misdemeanor.
A judge accepted the plea agreement and found Hantz Marconi guilty of soliciting Sununu last year, when he was still governor, “to secure a governmental privilege and/or advantage” in an investigation of her husband.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Hantz Marconi paid a $1,200 fine but avoided prison time. All seven of the original charges, including two felony counts punishable by up to seven years in prison, were dismissed.
Two days later, a state Supreme Court panel decided to restore Hantz Marconi's law license with no restrictions, clearing the way for her to return to the bench.
The judges said the charge to which she pleaded no contest does not meet the definition of a "serious crime" in the state's attorney discipline system. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors also made the same determination.
Hantz Marconi’s lawyer, Richard Guerriero, said last week that she “continues to disagree with the attorney general’s characterization of her actions.”
He said she pleaded no contest to “bring the case to an end without the spectacle and possible damage of a trial involving testimony by New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices and other state officials."
Hantz Marconi’s return to the bench will be short. Under court rules, she must retire when she turns 70 in February.
Her husband’s criminal case continues. Few details have been made public.
Geno Marconi, 74, was charged with six counts, including two felonies, over allegations he deleted voicemails, engaged in witness tampering and shared confidential records with another person. The nature of the investigation in question was unclear.
According to the original indictment against her, Hantz Marconi told Sununu that there was no merit to the allegations and that any investigation of her husband “needed to be wrapped up quickly because she was recused from important cases pending” before the state Supreme Court.
Geno Marconi has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin next month.
