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Former Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave (D) is getting yet another life lesson about consequences as a grand jury in Rockingham Superior Court handed up criminal indictments connected to the lies he allegedly told in order to get a free lawyer.

The 39-year-old disgraced ex-lawman and one-time New Hampshire Democratic Party star is getting two new felonies and three new misdemeanors added to the long list of criminal charges that forced him from office last year. The indictments come after Brave turned down at least two different plea agreement offers earlier this year.

Brave was charged last summer for allegedly stealing $19,000 in taxpayer money in order to fund his love life, and then lying about it when brought before a grand jury. The new indictments allege Brave followed up his arrest in the theft and perjury case by lying to the courts about his income and place of residence.

Brave allegedly hid the fact he cleared a substantial amount of money from the sale of his Dover home in order to qualify for a free public defender. Brave reportedly made enough money from the sale to buy a 1968 Porsche and pay a year’s lease up front on an apartment in Massachusetts.

At the time, however, Brave was under court orders to reside in New Hampshire. The disgraced Democrat got around that order by simply lying, according to the indictments. Brave told court officials he was living in a Dover apartment rather than out of state.

When the alleged lies were discovered late last year, Brave was still Strafford County Sheriff. He was collecting his salary while on administrative leave, despite no longer living in the state. The revelation about the Massachusetts apartment and his income forced Brave into a December deal to finally resign from his post in order to stay out of jail for violating his bail order.

Now the lies have come back to bite Brave in the form of the new indictments. 

Prosecutors said last month, before the indictments were handed up, that any trial in the original case won’t happen until next year. There’s still the opportunity for Brave to seek a plea agreement. But with the new charges it appears he does not have leverage in any possible negotiation.

Elected in 2020 as New Hampshire’s first Black sheriff, Brave promised to reform the police culture within the department. At the time, though, the Strafford County Sheriff’s Department focused less on law enforcement and more on civil process service.

Brave allegedly promoted a woman he took to Florida on the county dime to a “special deputy” position despite the fact she was not a certified police officer. He allegedly maxed out his county credit card on expenses from taking various women on dates and short vacations. Brave wooed so many different women, in fact, that he could not identify a specific woman when questioned by investigators. At the time, Brave was married, though he’s since divorced.

Earlier in the investigation, Brave claimed his fellow Democrats on the Stratford County Commissioners were racists who were out to get him. That’s unlikely to be an effective strategy in court, lawyers tell NHJournal.

Strafford County voters now face the choice between Republican Scott Tingle and Democrat Kathryn Mone. 

Mone’s resume includes her recent stint as the North Hampton Police Chief where she oversaw a mass employee exodus while she micromanaged the staff, according to sources. The town was stuck with a $150,000 tab settling a case overseen by Mone that involved two of her officers improperly arresting a woman for drinking beer at home while watching baseball, after they performed an illegal search.

Karen Liot Hill may serve as the treasurer of Grafton County, but her use of campaign dollars for personal expenses in her Executive Council race is raising eyebrows.

According to her campaign disclosures, the Lebanon Democrat has spent thousands in campaign cash on meals, clothes, and visits to salons. Her campaign expenditures include a $190 ferry ride to the Hamptons and $181 to register her car.

Liot Hill also reports spending $7,004 on gas for her car, $755 for car maintenance, and another $8,330 on meals. 

Gubernatorial candidate Joyce Craig (D-Manchester) ran a bruising statewide primary campaign against Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington (D-District 2) and reports spending just $849 for meals.

“I’ve run a very grassroots campaign,” Liot Hill said.

The detailed reports on Liot Hill’s spending also include unexplained checks totaling $1,350 that appear to correspond to two court cases against her: a violation for driving with a suspended license and another involving a debt collection.

Liot Hill serves on the Lebanon City Council and is the elected Grafton County Treasurer. She’s also a former restaurant owner whose business went under during the COVID pandemic. That hardship is behind the financial difficulties she had earlier this year.

On Dec. 12, 2023, a car financing company filed a motion for contempt against Liot Hill in Lebanon District Court for her failure to comply with a previous payment order. At the time, Liot Hill had not made a payment since June 2023 and had an outstanding balance of $1,061, according to court records. The case was resolved this February after Liot Hill paid $945.

In January of this year, Liot Hill was again in trouble, but this time in a traffic case. She was charged in June 2023 for driving with a suspended license. The case was resolved with Liot Hill pleading no contest and agreeing to pay $620 in fines and court costs. However, court records show that Liot Hill’s first check to cover the fine bounced on Jan. 8.

Contacted Thursday, Liot Hill denied she used campaign funds to cover payments related to her court cases. However, she did not immediately recall why or to whom she paid $600 on Dec. 26, or $750 on Jan. 12. The campaign reports do not give any information about the recipient or purpose of those payments, unlike the thousands of other expense entries.

“They might be reimbursements to me,” Liot Hill said.

Liot Hill called back a short time later after checking her bank accounts to say the two checks were for reimbursements for different subscription services related to the campaign. 

Liot Hill told NHJournal she planned to amend her campaign reports to reflect the correct details on the two checks. But those checks represent a fraction of the $113,000 she has spent on the campaign. Liot Hill won her primary against Mike Liberty despite Liberty’s more than $400,000 campaign. Liot Hill did not run television ads or digital ads to keep up with Liberty’s spending. Instead, she put 40,000 miles on her car to meet voters.

“I’ve driven 1,000 miles a week, that’s how I won despite being outspent four to one. A lot of expenses are related to meeting the people and being out on the road,” she said. 

Having the campaign reimburse her for gas ultimately saved money, Liot Hill said. She could have taken a mileage reimbursement at 75 cents per mile, but that would have driven the cost up to about $30,000 instead of $7,000.

Executive Council District 2 is a large area, going from the Monadnock region and Keene, to north of the Upper Valley, and then out to Concord. But it does not cover as large of an area as District 1, where Democrat Emmett Soldati has spent about $31,000 of the $106,000 he raised. Those expenditures include $1,500 for gas and $677 for meals. But Soldati has not run a competitive primary like Liot Hill.

Liot Hill’s unusual campaign spending doesn’t end with dinner and a drive.

Also included is a $250 payment to a Vermont heating oil company. That payment was made in July to a company that performs $250 annual furnace tuneups. Liot Hill denied she used campaign money to service her heating system, but did not have an immediate explanation for the charge.

Liot Hill also spent $711 on hair and nails, $1,600 on clothes, $330 on books, and $1,230 at grocery stores on “food and flowers.” Additionally, Liot Hill spent $736 on airfare, $453 on hotels, and $1,017 on transportation. Many of those expenses are not out of the ordinary for campaigns, including the out-of-state travel she charged.

Asked about her out-of-state stays, including a trip to Orient Point on the Hamptons in New York, Liot Hill said there were fundraising ventures to her old home turf.

“I grew up on Long Island,” she said.

But a review of the donations reported by her campaign shows Liot Hill brought in a negligible amount of money from out-of-state donors. Her campaign reports nine donations from New York residents totaling $4,250. Her campaign has raised more than $122,000 as of the Sept. 19 report.

Vincent Liot, a retired Sag Harbor, N.Y. resident, accounts for four of those New York donations. Vincent Liot gave the campaign $3,550 in total, and Carolyn Liot from East Hampton, N.Y., gave another $300. The four New York donors not named Liot gave a total of $400.

On the other end of spectrum, Liot Hill’s opponent in the general election, Republican Kim Strathdee, is reporting zero money raised or spent. Candidates are not required to report any spending if the total is under $1,000.

State Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester), who has pushed for campaign finance reforms in the past, said the current law gives candidates a wide berth when it comes to how they spend money. Spending campaign money on personal expenses is prohibited, but defining what’s personal and what’s not gets tricky with New Hampshire’s citizen legislature and Executive Council.

“That can open a Pandora’s Box and we don’t want to curtail someone’s First Amendment rights,” Berry said.

The law, instead, leaves it to voters and donors to oversee the candidates, he said. Candidates must be transparent in how they spend money, and who they get that money from.

“The point of campaign finance reporting is so the public can suss out if there’s an appearance of impropriety,” he said.

Former House Speaker Donna Sytek, who is a current member of the House Legislative Ethics Committee, said candidates need to make sure they can show donors they are spending donations in an appropriate manner. 

“You have to be able to tie it to the campaign,” Sytek said. “In a campaign, it’s best not to be on the receiving end of questions about possibly unusual expenses.”

While Democrat Andrew Kennedy is a new name in New Hampshire politics, the candidate running for state House in Lee, N.H. has a familiar face. 

Andrew Kennedy — formerly “Andrew Gregoire” and until recently “Andrew Bouldin” — was elected a state representative under the latter name in 2018 to represent the Manchester.

Bouldin was set to run for a third term in 2022 when he suddenly resigned his House seat without explanation and moved out of the district. As he tries to get back into public life in a new town with a new name, the reasons for his disappearing act are now being revealed.

According to a Manchester Police Department report obtained by NHJournal, Bouldin (now Kennedy) was investigated for sexually grooming a teen girl by giving her alcohol and showing her pornographic material.

The investigation happened in 2023 when the girl came forward, and after Bouldin had seemingly removed himself from public life. The alleged grooming incidents happened prior to his surprise 2022 resignation, a source told NHJournal.

NHJournal is not identifying the girl or the adult who contacted police about the alleged grooming. The alleged incidents happened both in Manchester and out of state, according to the police report. 

The girl told investigators Bouldin gave her alcohol, showed her pornography, asked her about her sexual preferences, and asked her if she masturbated. During one conversation, Bouldin reportedly told the girl he wanted to get a sex change to experience “being a female,” according to the report.

Bouldin was not charged when police concluded much of his inappropriate behavior fell outside the statute of limitations or occurred outside New Hampshire. Bouldin never asked the girl to engage in any sexual activity with him, and there are no witnesses to him serving her alcohol or talking to her about sex, according to the report. 

Bouldin refused to speak to police when they reached out as part of their investigation. Contacted by phone Thursday night, Bouldin – now Andrew Kennedy – hung up.

Kennedy is one of four Democrats running in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 11 on Sept. 10.

Walter King, chair of the Strafford County Democrats Committee, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. NHJournal has learned the committee’s leadership was aware of the accusations but felt powerless to stop Kennedy’s candidacy without any concrete proof to substantiate the claims.

Andrew Kennedy currently has a page on the Stafford County Democrats Committee website touting his candidacy, as do all the other Democratic candidates.

Bouldin was a reliably progressive vote during his previous service in the House. He voted against cutting the business profits tax, the parental bill of rights and displaying the national motto “In God We Trust” in schools. He also opposed a ban on late-term abortions.

It is not clear if Andrew Gregoire/Bouldin/Kennedy ever took legal steps to officially change his name. The Andrew Kennedy name was adopted after he attended a rally for independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., according to a source familiar with the decision.

NHJournal initially sought copies of the police report from Manchester Police via a Right to Know request. That request was denied on Tuesday when Manchester Police Lieutenant Jared Yaris determined there is no public interest involved in Andrew Bouldin’s case.

“Utilizing the balancing test, it appears, based on your request, that an individual’s privacy interest outweighs the public interest. There does not appear to be any public interest at stake in your request, and it was not articulated that there is a health or safety concern in this matter,” Yaris wrote.

Yaris told NHJournal he was unaware that Bouldin had been a state representative and did not know about his new candidacy under the new Andrew Kennedy name.

His campaign website includes the fact that he previously served in the House. It does not mention, however, that his service was under a different name.

Former Democratic State Senate Minority Leader Jeffrey Woodburn is about to check in at the crowbar motel as Coos Superior Court Judge Peter Bornstein rejected what could be his final attempt to stay free.

On Thursday, Bornstein ordered Woodburn to appear in court for a sentencing imposition hearing. That hearing is to be set for the earliest possible date, according to the order. 

Woodburn urged his looming 30-day jail sentence on two convictions for criminal mischief be changed to a suspended sentence. But Bornstein rejected Woodburn’s recent motion to avoid jail, saying there are no facts in dispute.

“[E]ven if the Court was to consider the defendant’s request for sentence modification on the merits, it would deny same because his criminal mischief sentences reflected all relevant facts and circumstances and appropriately balanced and promoted the goals of sentencing,” Bornstein wrote.

Attorney General John Formella praised the ruling.

“The original sentences imposed on Mr. Woodburn for criminal mischief were carefully considered and were consistent with the facts and circumstances of the case. This outcome reflects our commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that all convictions are addressed in a manner that respects both the victims and the integrity of the judicial process,” Formella said.

Woodburn’s political career crashed in 2018 when he was charged with assaulting his former girlfriend in the domestic abuse case. He fought the case for seven years and managed to overturn 2021 convictions for simple assault and domestic abuse by appealing to the state Supreme Court.

A second trial on the assault charges ended with a hung jury earlier this year. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella opted to drop the case rather than go for a third trial. That left just the two criminal mischief convictions, which the Supreme Court refused to reconsider. 

According to court records, Woodburn bit the woman during a December 2017 argument as she was driving him back from a party. An intoxicated Woodburn demanded to be let out of the car, and he planned to call a friend for a ride. When the woman reached to take his phone, he allegedly bit her hand, according to the allegations.

Woodburn argued in this year’s second trial that he was acting in self defense when he bit the woman. 

As for the criminal mischief, Woodburn kicked the door to the woman’s house and she refused to let him inside about a week after the fight in the car, according to court records. Earlier that year, in August 2017, he reportedly kicked her clothes dryer, breaking the appliance, according to court records. 

Former Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave’s criminal case is in limbo as prosecutors push back the trial that was set to start in the coming days, possibly sparing more charges against the lothario lawman.

Brave, once a rising star in the New Hampshire Democratic Party, is accused of stealing close to $20,000 in taxpayer money to fund multiple extra-marital affairs, and then lying about the money and affairs when called to testify before a grand jury.

With jury selection scheduled to start this week, prosecutors had warned Brave they would seek new charges if Rockingham Superior Court Judge Andrew Schulman did not push back the proceedings.

“During prior hearings in this matter, the State informed the Court and counsel for the Defendant that in the event a plea agreement was not reached in this matter, the State would consider superseding the Strafford County indictments currently pending in this matter, as well as potentially seeking additional indictments in Rockingham County for conduct that has occurred during the litigation of the Strafford County indictments,” Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Fincham wrote in a June motion.

Schulman has now agreed to the delay, setting the next court date in the case as a status conference. That conference is not yet scheduled.

Brave’s attorney, Leif Becker, told Foster’s Daily Democrat there’s always the chance Brave will finally get a plea deal he likes, and avoid the trial altogether.

“There is still the opportunity for a case to be resolved at any point prior to a trial,” Becker said. “Here, because a trial would involve many witnesses and much testimony the state wants to look at the court scheduling and possibly make adjustments considering the timing of a trial.”

Brave’s been playing hard to get when it comes to a plea deal. He turned down a proposal the state offered earlier this year, and prosecutors were not impressed with his counter. The two sides ended up in mediation and the impartial mediation judge crafted a new plea deal. Brave refused to sign onto the mediated offer, sending the case to the scheduled August trial.

Brave’s been competing in Olympic-scale legal jeopardy for more than a year. Though not exactly winning, he’s managed to stay out of jail. But, Brave’s post-arrest alleged shenanigans are the subject of the possible new indictments Fincham warned about if forced to go to trial this month.

After he was indicted last year, Brave’s case was moved to Rockingham County to avoid a conflict of interest. It’s in Rockingham County where Brave is accused of lying to court officials about his income and his place of residence. 

Brave was assigned a free, public defense attorney last year when he claimed he was essentially broke following his divorce. However, it came to light Brave was, in fact, flush with cash after the sale of his marital home in Dover. He had enough money to buy a 1968 Porsche and pay a year’s lease on an apartment in Massachusetts, according to court records.

On top of hiding the money from the court, Brave was also under an order from Schulman to remain living in Massachusetts pending trial. Brave got around that order by telling the court he was living in a Dover apartment while he was really living in Massachusetts. 

At the time Brave’s lies were discovered, Fincham threatened to have him charged with theft for taking his New Hampshire sheriff’s salary while living out of state, and have his personal recognizance bail revoked. As an elected official, Brave is required to live in New Hampshire, according to Fincham. Brave had been collecting his salary while out on paid administrative leave.

Brave got out of that jam by resigning his position in December in exchange for not going to jail right away.

Disgraced former Democratic leader Jeff Woodburn is out of appeals, but he’s still trying to avoid jail time on two counts of criminal mischief, the only surviving convictions from the seven-year-old domestic violence legal saga that ended his career.

Woodburn’s attorney, Mark Sisti, is asking the court to suspend the two 30-day sentences against his client, allowing the former Senate Minority Leader to essentially go free. Sisti told NHJournal on Monday it makes no sense to jail Woodburn. But the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office continues to pursue the punishment.

“I can assure you, no one in the state of New Hampshire is serving jail time for similar convictions,” Sisti said. “We’re talking about someone with absolutely no criminal record.”

Woodburn was contacted by NHJournal, but he referred questions to Sisti.

While the state Democratic Party has been silent on Woodburn’s case, he has the public backing of at least one former Democratic lawmaker, his current girlfriend Patty Dwyer.

“Jeff is a wonderful man who is honest, intelligent, funny, and thoughtful,” Dwyer wrote to Coos Superior Court Judge Peter Bornstein. 

Woodburn first met Dwyer when they both served as Democratic state representatives. Dwyer, a party volunteer and former teacher from Manchester, has long been a controversial Woodburn booster. Dwyer took to social media in 2021 to attack the victim after Woodburn’s first trial ended in convictions on simple assault, domestic violence, and the two criminal mischief counts. 

“The ‘lady’ is a huge liar and a thief, not to mention a SOCIOPATH!” Dwyer posted on social media. “She is an affront to woman who actually do experience domestic violence! Botton line; its the age old story of a woman scorned!” [All typos in the original.]

Dwyer’s comments attacking a domestic abuse victim did not prevent the Manchester Democratic Party from giving her the C. Arthur and Lillian Soucy Award in 2021 for her leadership in the party. The award is named for the parents of current Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester.) Soucy did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

NHJournal reached out to North Country Democrats running in this year’s election about whether it’s time for Woodburn to simply serve his sentence after losing his appeals. None would agree to comment on the record.

In his motion opposing jail time for his client, Sisti argues Woodburn is being unfairly punished because he was in a high profile elected office. Sisti is asking for the sentence to be suspended for two years, during which Woodburn will remain on good behavior.

“He should not be disproportionately punished because of his notoriety or the media attention to this matter. He should stand on equal footing with all other N.H. citizens in a similar situation with a similar background. A sentence involving actual incarceration would be excessive and would serve no logical purpose,” Sisti wrote.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office did not offer a comment other than the court motion filed in opposition to Sisti’s request for no jail time.

“The defendant’s objection should be summarily denied, as the defendant has waived any and all rights to appeal or request modification of the previously imposed sentence. Furthermore, the defendant has offered no valid basis upon which this court could grant his request,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Joshua Speicher wrote.

Sisti said the state is trying to save face in its pursuit of Woodburn after major setbacks to the prosecution ended up gutting the case.

“What have they got left after everything? After seven years, they have two minor misdemeanor convictions, and nobody got hurt on either of them,” Sisti said.

Woodburn was first charged in 2018 for allegedly abusing his then girlfriend. He was convicted in May 2021 on counts of domestic violence, simple assault, and criminal mischief after his first trial in 2021, but a later Supreme Court ruling overturned the domestic violence and simple assault charges, sending them back for a second trial. That second trial ended with a hung jury earlier this year, and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella opted to drop the case rather than go for a third trial. 

According to court records, Woodburn bit the woman during a December 2017 argument as she was driving him back from a party. An intoxicated Woodburn demanded to be let out of the car, and planned to call a friend for a ride. When the woman reached to take his phone, he allegedly bit her hand, according to the allegations.

Woodburn argued in this year’s second trial that he was acting in self-defense when he bit the woman. 

A Democratic lawyer who once had dreams of elected office is facing prison time for allegedly stealing money from a disabled client and then doctoring evidence.

He’s the second New Hampshire Democrat to be hit with news of potential jail time in the past 24 hours.

Police arrested Justin P. Nadeau Wednesday on charges of theft by deception, forgery, multiple counts of falsifying physical evidence, and financial exploitation of an elderly, disabled, or impaired adult.

The charges stem from information that came out during Nadeau’s ethics case before the state Professional Conduct Committee. Nadeau was ultimately disbarred after he was allegedly caught falsifying evidence during the PCC investigation.

“It’s difficult for me to imagine something worse for a lawyer to do,” one PCC member said, according to the court records.

Nadeau went before the PCC after he allegedly got a client who was impaired by a traumatic brain injury, Exeter woman Shawn Fahey, to give him close to $300,000 in loans in 2018. Nadeau allegedly secured the loans with a condo he did not own, and the anticipated proceeds from a pending defamation lawsuit he had against the Portsmouth Police Department.

Nadeau allegedly told Fahey that until the defamation lawsuit was resolved he was “strapped for cash.”

It was a tough 24 hours for New Hampshire Democrats.

Portsmouth’s Nadeau was the Democratic nominee in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District in 2004, losing to incumbent Republican Jeb Bradley by nearly 30 points. 

Nadeau’s defamation lawsuit against the Portsmouth police arose from an arrest of Portsmouth man Christian Jennings. Jennings was allegedly found with quantities of marijuana, Ecstasy, amphetamines, a loaded gun, and $42,000 in cash. According to police, Nadeau was handling an $85,000 marina investment for Jennings before the arrest, though the marina deal never closed. Nadeau brought the lawsuit when police opened an investigation into whether or not he was laundering drug money. The defamation case was settled in 2019.

Nadeau also allegedly hid the $165,000 he collected after he sent Fahey to a Massachusetts attorney to handle her injury case, according to the PCC investigation. Nadeau reportedly collected referral fees from the Massachusetts attorney as well as other money related to Fahey’s case.

Nadeau slow-walked producing documents related to the case for the PCC. The Democrat even destroyed his computer before the hearing, according to court records. Nadeau claims he made all the appropriate conflict of interest disclosures and eventually produced printed copies of the letter he claimed he sent her.

However, James Berriman, the computer expert hired by the PCC, looked through Nadeau’s office server and found the dates on the documents Nadeau gave to the committee were fake, and the documents were created well after he took the money from Fahey.

“As a member of the PCC observed at oral argument before the PCC, ‘the Berriman Report and the spoliation of evidence, in my mind . . . is one of the most significant violations I have seen in decades of practice before the ADO before joining this committee,’” a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling states.

Nadeau appealed his disbarment, but the Supreme Court ruled in April that he crossed too many lines to be let back into court, at least not as an attorney.

Nadeau is due in Rockingham County Circuit Court in Portsmouth for an arraignment on Sept. 9.

As Rep. Annie Kuster’s handpicked successor, Democrat Colin Van Ostern wants voters to forget the time his financial firm was paid millions for misleading its investors.

Van Ostern was president and chief operating officer at Manchester-based Alumni Ventures from 2019 through 2023, a position he left to launch his current campaign. In 2022, federal and state regulators investigated the company, finding it lied to customers and improperly moved millions between accounts.

Van Ostern did not respond to a request for comment. 

In 2022, Alumni Ventures agreed to pay back more than $4.7 million to investors taken in an allegedly misleading fee schedule. The company also paid millions to regulators in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

According to documents, the company misled investors by telling them the fee to manage investment funds would be “the industry standard of 2 and 20.” That’s generally understood to mean a two percent management fee every year for 10 years, and a 20 percent share in the eventual investment profits.

But that’s not what Alumni Ventures charged. Instead, the company took 10 years worth of two percent fees, or 20 percent, off the top of all investments. If a customer gave the company $100,000 to invest, Alumni Ventures would immediately take $20,000, leaving less money for the investment, according to the records. That money was then used to fund the business.

“This practice amounted to an undisclosed interest-free loan to [Alumni Ventures] from the funds it managed,” New Hampshire’s Bureau of Securities Regulation statement makes clear.

Van Ostern’s firm was also sanctioned for allegedly moving around investment fund money, effectively giving itself interest-free loans, according to the Massachusetts court order.

“The loans from [Alumni Ventures] to the Funds had no predetermined maturity date or interest rate, and their timing and repayment amount was solely in [Alumni Ventures’] discretion. The loans were not memorialized in a written debt instrument at the time the loans were made, and were not disclosed to investors,” the Massachusetts order states.

Alumni Ventures ended up paying a $700,000 fine to the SEC, and founder and CEO Michael Collins paid a $100,000 penalty to the federal agency. The company was ordered to pay $750,000 in fines and administrative costs in Massachusetts. New Hampshire regulators assessed a $600,000 fine, $100,000 for the investigation, and another $100,000 fine from Collins.

The company was also ordered to change its marketing material to inform potential customers about the real fee schedule.

The questionable conduct regulators targeted occurred between 2016 and 2020, according to the records, ending about a year after Van Ostern became COO. The Alumni Ventures job is one of many private sector positions Van Ostern occupied after he lost the 2016 gubernatorial race to Gov. Chris Sununu.

Van Ostern has long been a player in New Hampshire politics, though mostly assigned to the bench. After earning an MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Van Ostern worked as Democratic Gov. John Lynch’s majordomo as well as operating a consulting firm. His early clients were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Kuster.

Van Ostern was elected to the Executive Council in 2012 and served alongside Sununu until they faced off in the 2016 governor’s race.

Van Ostern also tried, and failed, to unseat Secretary of State Bill Gardner in 2018 before moving into the private sector. He did stints at yogurt maker Stonyfield and Southern New Hampshire University before landing at Alumni Ventures.

Collins started the Manchester-based Alumni Ventures in 2014 as a venture capital investment firm. The company has raised more than $1 billion in funds since it started.

With a beautiful and much younger woman by his side, a woman he instructed to act like a “first lady,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Woodburn (D-Whitefield) harbored ambitions to run for governor against incumbent Chris Sununu.

Instead, the former Senate Minority Leader is facing a possible third trial on charges he assaulted his former girlfriend while he prepares for another appeal before the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Prosecutors filed a brief last week opposing the appeal, asking the justices to uphold the only convictions still standing.

Woodburn was convicted in 2021 on two counts of criminal mischief, one count of domestic violence, and one count of simple assault for a series of incidents in which he allegedly assaulted the woman and destroyed her property. After appealing those results to the Supreme Court, the domestic violence and simple assault convictions were overturned based on the argument Woodburn wasn’t allowed to argue self-defense. But the two criminal mischief convictions were upheld.

Last month’s second trial on the domestic violence and simple assault charges in Coos Superior Court ended with a hung jury. Woodburn is free again after telling jurors he bit the woman and grabbed her in self-defense.

Now, Woodburn wants a new trial on the criminal mischief counts, claiming he didn’t get a fair trial in 2021 because his original lawyer failed to sever those charges from the assault charges.

The state’s brief paints a picture of Woodburn as a controlling man with a drinking problem who made his new girlfriend fear for her safety months before he was charged in 2018. According to the brief, the woman, 17 years his junior, worked as the Democratic Party chair for Coos County and helped get Woodburn elected. He started pursuing a romantic relationship with her in 2015 as his marriage was falling apart, according to the filing.

Soon after they got engaged in 2017, the state says, Woodburn began publicizing their relationship to help his political career.

“(Woodburn) posted pictures on social media and told the victim that this was ‘very important to him,’ because dating her would help him with his career,” the filing states. “Although he liked the way that the victim could ‘approach a stranger with a Bernie sticker,’ he also told her that she should ‘behave like a first lady.’ He told her that she was not to criticize  him, ‘especially in public, because he hoped to be governor.’”

The relationship was described as “volatile,” with Woodburn losing his temper and yelling at her or kicking the door off her clothes dryer during an argument, the state says. The woman told a friend she didn’t call the police after those incidents because she felt she was at fault, and she didn’t want to get Woodburn in trouble.

According to the available record, things got violent in late 2017. After a Dec. 16, 2017, Christmas party, an intoxicated Woodburn bit the woman’s hand, leaving marks. The bite came when the woman tried to take Woodburn’s phone during the argument.

Days later, on Christmas Eve, Woodburn allegedly punched her in the stomach after he had been drinking and verbally berating her while they wrapped presents for her children. After taking half a bottle of vodka and food, Woodburn left the house, according to the filing. However, he was back a short time later, breaking into the house and yelling at the woman.

“I hate you so much; why do we do this?” Woodburn reportedly said.

The woman testified she kept blaming herself for Woodburn’s outbursts and violence and, at the same time, was too scared to get help.

“At that point, I feared what he would do to me, too. I feared what would happen to me, that he would retaliate. He knew all the police officers in the town, too,” the woman said.

In June 2018, Woodburn became intoxicated during a party and again assaulted the woman during an argument on the ride home, according to the filing, leaving bruises on her arm. Soon after that incident, they broke up as a couple, and she contacted law enforcement.

Woodburn’s lawyer, Mark Sisti, previously told NHJournal he plans to fight “tooth and nail” to clear his client.

According to his attorney, jurors should be ordered to consider biting as self-defense when they deliberate the simple assault and domestic abuse charges against Jeffrey Woodburn.

The disgraced Democratic former state Senate Minority Leader is gearing up for his second trial on allegations he assaulted his former girlfriend on multiple occasions. His arrest six years ago resulted in a trial, conviction, and multiple appeals — not to mention the end of his political career. 

Woodburn continues to fight the charges.

The Coos County Democrat was convicted in 2022, but the state Supreme Court tossed those convictions last year because he was originally barred from making the case he acted in self-defense. That sent the case back to Coos Superior Court for a new trial.

Woodburn’s attorney, Mark Sisti, filed his version of proposed jury instructions ahead of the sequel trial slated to start next week. The jury instructions make it clear Woodburn will try to justify his use of physical violence against his former girlfriend.

“A person has the right to utilize non-deadly force when he can reasonably believe that such force is necessary in order to defend himself. In this case, Jeffrey Woodburn asserts that his act of physical contact, including biting the alleged victim, was necessary as he reasonably believed that the complainant posed an imminent threat of restraining him from exiting the car,” according to the Woodburn defense documents.

According to court records, Woodburn bit the woman during a December 2017 argument as she was driving him back from a party. An intoxicated Woodburn demanded to be let out of the car, and he planned to call a friend for a ride. When the woman reached to take his phone, he allegedly bit her hand, according to the allegations.

While Woodburn was not able to cast blame on the victim at his original trial, the Supreme Court’s ruling means he can now claim the woman’s past aggressiveness when dealing with him, usually when he was intoxicated, to justify his actions. 

According to the proposed jury instructions, Woodburn will argue he was acting out of the “heat of passion” and shouldn’t be judged with hindsight.

“In deciding whether the defendant acted in self-defense, you should consider all of the circumstances surrounding the incident. You should consider how the defendant acted under the circumstances as they were presented to him at the time and not necessarily as they appear upon detached reflection. You should consider whether the defendant’s belief that it was necessary to use non-deadly force was reasonable when he acted in the heat of passion,” the proposed instructions state.

It will ultimately be up to a jury to decide if Woodburn’s self-defense claims are enough to keep him from consequences. His related convictions on charges of criminal mischief were upheld on appeal, but Woodburn has yet to serve any jail time as the 30-day sentences were stayed pending the new trial.

According to court records, Woodburn kicked the door to the woman’s house and she refused to let him inside about a week after the fight in the car. Earlier that year, in August 2017, he reportedly kicked her clothes dryer, breaking the appliance, according to court records.

Woodburn’s tenacity in fighting the charges is similar to his scramble to stay in politics after his arrest in the summer of 2018. Despite calls from state Democrats to resign, Woodburn ran for reelection and won the primary in September 2018. He went on to lose the general election that November.