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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.

Caught not reporting $1.5 million in revenue, Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave is now under court order to pay for his own defense lawyer.

Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Daniel St. Hilaire canceled Brave’s free public defender Tuesday after prosecutors requested an emergency hearing. According to court records, prosecutors say Brave lied on his financial disclosure forms when he first applied for a public defender, leaving proceeds from the sale of his Dover home off his list of assets.

Brave cried poverty when he was approved for a public defender on Oct. 26, though he had already sold the 17 Schooner Drive home on Sept. 29. Brave did not list revenue from the home sale on his application for a public defender. The home sold for $1.5 million.

Brave was arraigned on charges he stole taxpayer money to support his hook-up lifestyle on Sept. 28. At that hearing, Brave represented himself, saying he could not afford a lawyer. Brave said he planned to hire Shaheen and Gordon to represent him once the house sale went through. 

Brave is facing the possibility of 63 years in prison and blames his current legal predicament on political vendettas and racism. He claimed Strafford County Commissioners George Maglaras, Robert Watson, and Deanna Rollo made up the allegations as part of a political maneuver. Maglaras, Watson, and Rollo are all elected Democrats. Brave’s also accused Maglaras of racism. According to Brave, Maglaras called him a “token.”

County Administrator Ray Bowers went to County Attorney Tom Velardi last spring after finding suspicious purchases Brave made with his county-issued credit card, according to records made public in the investigation. Verladi referred the matter to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella’s office for investigation.

According to the affidavit written by New Hampshire Attorney General Investigator Allison Vachon, Brave repeatedly used his position and public money to fund his relationships with various paramours. There were plane trips, hotel stays, meals, and even a family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge, though it is not clear if the Great Wolf Lodge weekend was with his family or the family of a woman he was dating. 

County officials had been concerned about Brave’s spending outpacing his budget for months when an audit found Brave had “maxed out” his county credit card. According to Vachon’s affidavit, the audit also turned up suspicious receipts for an August 2022 trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

While Brave would give Bowers and, later, investigators multiple rationales for the Florida trip, it turned out to be an excursion with female Strafford County Sheriff employee Freezenia Veras.

Brave had hired a woman, Veras, to a new position he created for her in March 2022. Veras’ title as chief of support services/public information officer didn’t come with a job description, but it did come with a $ 79,000-a-year salary. As a result, Veras was getting more in her paycheck than certified deputies in Strafford County- those qualified to engage in law enforcement. Brave would go on to have Veras sworn in as a special deputy, giving her the power to arrest people.

Veras would eventually tell Vachon she and Brave went to Florida to research her new job with other law enforcement agencies. Veras told investigators Brave claimed the meetings were canceled at the last minute, and she spent her time shopping and hanging out by the hotel pool, the affidavit stated.

Brave allegedly used taxpayer funds for trips with multiple women and then repeatedly lied about it, the affidavit stated. He is charged with eight felonies, including theft, perjury, and falsifying evidence for stealing at least $19,000 from the county.

Brave remains Strafford County Sheriff, at least until the next election. He is currently on paid leave from his job.

Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave is charged with crimes related to his hookups with women, allegedly paid for with public money. But on Thursday, Brave was alone, representing himself during his arraignment hearing in a Strafford County courtroom.

Brave, who is accused of stealing taxpayer money to fund his secret love life and then lying about it to a grand jury, still does not have a lawyer. That may not matter much yet, as the hearing in Rockingham Superior Court was more of a formality to get the case started.

The Strafford County Democrat entered pleas of not guilty to the eight felony charges brought against him, and he remains free on bail with the same restrictions imposed when he was arrested last month. Brave, who is on paid leave from his sheriff’s job, is prohibited from contacting numerous Strafford County employees, including several members of the sheriff’s office staff.

The only minor change in his bail was Brave has moved out of his Schooner Drive home in Dover, and he will be allowed to leave the state when he drives his daughter to a private school in Lawrence, Mass.

“I’m a single dad,” Brave said in court.

Selling the Schooner Drive home is key to Brave’s legal defense. He said this week he plans to use the sale proceeds to hire an attorney. The home was listed on real estate websites for $1.1 million, with indications that a sale is pending.

It has been a steep fall from grace for Brave, once a rising star in the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Brave, the first African American elected sheriff in state history, had backing from the party’s mainstream and progressives in the Black Lives Matter movement.

His endorsement in the Democratic primary race for governor was a big enough get that Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington (D-District 2) put his backing on her website. The campaign later removed his name without comment.

The criminal probe into Brave came to light because he started talking to the press. In June, he disclosed the existence of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit investigation and used the opportunity to preemptively deny the allegations. He also accused Strafford County Commissioners George Maglaras, Robert Watson, and Deanna Rollo of creating the accusation as a game of dirty politics. Maglaras, Watson, and Rollo are all elected Democrats. 

As the investigation was heating up behind the scenes, Brave went to the press again and accused Maglaras of racism. According to Brave, Maglaras called him a “token.”

In fact, County Administrator Ray Bowers went to County Attorney Tom Velardi this spring when he found suspicious purchases Brave made with his county-issued credit card, according to records made public in the investigation. Verladi did not investigate Brave due to the potential conflict of interest but instead contacted the attorney general.

According to the affidavit written by New Hampshire Attorney General Investigator Allison Vachon, Brave repeatedly used his position and public money to fund his romantic trysts. There were plane trips, hotel stays, meals, and even a family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge, though it is not clear if the Great Wolf Lodge weekend was with his family or the family of a woman he was dating. 

County officials had been concerned about Brave’s spending outpacing his budget for months when an audit found Brave had “maxed out” his county credit card. According to Vachon’s affidavit, the audit also turned up suspicious receipts for an August 2022 trip to Fort Lauderdale.

While Brave would give Bowers and, later, investigators multiple rationales for the Florida trip, it turned out to be an excursion with female Strafford County Sheriff’s Office employee Freezenia Veras.

Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave created a new position in his department for employee Freezenia Veras.

Brave hired Veras for a new position he created just for her in March 2022. Veras’ new title as chief of support services/public information officer didn’t come with a job description, but it did come with a $79,000-a-year salary. Those wages made Veras higher paid than the certified deputies in the office, the ones qualified to engage in law enforcement. Brave would eventually have Veras sworn in as a special deputy, giving her the power to arrest people.

Veras would eventually tell Vachon she and Brave went to Florida to research her new job with other law enforcement agencies. Veras told investigators Brave claimed the meetings were canceled at the last minute, and she spent her time shopping and hanging out by the hotel pool, the affidavit stated.

Brave allegedly used taxpayer funds for trips with multiple women, and then repeatedly lied about it, the affidavit stated. He is charged with eight felonies, including theft, perjury, and falsifying evidence for stealing at least $19,000 from the county. Brave could be sentenced to up to 64 years in prison if convicted on all counts. 

Brave remains Strafford County Sheriff, at least until the next election. He is currently on paid leave from his job. Veras no longer works for the sheriff’s office.