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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 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 of 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 guilty 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 emerged from court filings that investigators were looking into allegations that 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.

The woman who used her job at a daycare to create thousands of child sex abuse images for former New Hampshire Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton (D-Nashua) has entered into a plea agreement just weeks before Laughton’s own trial is set to begin.

Lindsay Groves, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography in federal court in Boston on Tuesday. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a possible 15- to 30-year prison sentence, and Groves could receive another 20 years for the distribution charge.

By entering into a plea agreement that requires her to testify against Laughton, Groves could get considerably less time in prison once the former state representative’s case is complete.

Groves is due for a sentencing hearing in February, when her fate will be determined.

Stacie Laughton

The stomach-churning details of the alleged crimes involve Groves and her partner, Laughton — a biological male who identifies as female — sending some 10,000 texts to each other between May 2022 and June 2023 in which the two discussed having sex with children. Groves also sent numerous explicit photos of children, many of whom were in her care at the Massachusetts daycare where she worked.

Some of the victims were as young as three years old, according to court records.

The pair has been in federal custody since their arrests in June 2023. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Laughton as male and last in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as of this month.

The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for federal prisoners detained pretrial, and the agency may send prisoners to various state and federal facilities as necessary. It’s not clear where Laughton is currently held, though he is likely closer to Boston with the trial looming. Groves also remains in the custody of the U.S. marshals pending her sentencing. The Marshals Service, like many federal agencies, is limited in its ability to respond to media inquiries during the government funding shutdown.

Laughton is a history-making Democrat in New Hampshire, though ultimately not in a good way. He was elected to the House in 2012 as the state’s first transgender lawmaker but had to resign within weeks when his criminal past came to light. Laughton was still on probation for a felony conviction, barring him from holding office.

He stuck around, however, and was elected to the House again in 2020 once his legal issues appeared to be resolved. But Laughton’s appearance of good behavior was short-lived.

In 2022, Laughton was charged with harassing Groves and her family, costing him his seat in the legislature. He was arrested in November 2022 for stalking Groves, shortly after winning reelection to the House. Laughton was jailed for weeks but remained in office until the House Democratic Caucus finally forced his resignation.

It came out during the stalking case that Laughton had called police to report that Groves was abusing children at the daycare — allegations that were then believed to be part of the ongoing harassment. Laughton is alleged to have repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job, claiming she was a pedophile. He reportedly made those accusations to police, on social media, and on his radio program, according to court records.

According to records in the federal case, Laughton and Groves began sharing the explicit photos and texts after the resolution of the stalking case.

Born Barry Laughton, his use of a female identity has never been complete. Laughton was housed as a male at the Valley Street Jail immediately after the June 2023 arrest and has appeared to be treated as male by federal authorities.

He was married to Lisa Laughton for many years, his alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that led to his removal from the House in 2012. Laughton has also maintained a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women.

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.