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A trial date is now set for former New Hampshire’s longtime ports and harbors director Geno Marconi, accused of retaliating against a Pease Development Authority board member.

Marconi is facing felony charges that he allegedly illegally leaked PDA Vice Chair Neil Levesque’s private driving records to Brad Cook, chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council. Marconi is also accused of destroying evidence, according to court records.

Cook is also facing criminal charges for his alleged role in the scheme. Associate Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi is also charged with allegedly trying to pressure then-Gov. Chris Sununu and PDA Chair Steve Duprey into dropping the criminal investigation into her husband.

Levesque got on Marconi’s bad side in 2022, when he raised concerns about the way Marconi ran Rye Harbor, according to NHPR’s reporting. Levesque sent a confidential memo to the PDA Executive Director Paul Breen about his concerns, which triggered an outside investigation.

The Rye Harbor problems Levesque warned about are the subject of a civil lawsuit brought in January by the owners of the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, Sylvia Cheever, and Nathan Hansom. They claim Marconi has been trying to hurt their business for years in order to aid his sister, Francesca Marconi Fernald, who operates Geno’s Chowder and Sandwich Shop, a restaurant started by their parents.

According to the lawsuit, Geno Marconi made it impossible for customers to park at the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, interfered with its business relationship with local lobster fishermen, and imposed a unique “concession fee,” all in an effort to hurt the business.

“The series of actions taken against Rye Harbor Lobster Pound were driven by Marconi’s desire to harm a competitor to his family business and in retaliation against the plaintiffs who were not part of Marconi’s network of allied businesses and individuals who worked for or were otherwise connected with the Port Authority,” the lawsuit states.

Marconi is no stranger to controversy. He was accused of misusing public resources for his own benefit in 2006. Those allegations included an accusation that Marconi took improper gifts like lobsters and liquor in his role as ports director, and he used racist slurs about a ship captain trying to do business with the state.

Marconi reportedly called a ship captain of Middle Eastern descent a “sand n*gger” a “camel jockey,” and a “towel head.” He was also accused of calling someone else a “New York Jew with the chink wife.” 

During an internal investigation, Marconi reportedly said that while he likely did use the term “sand n*gger,” it was not about that particular captain. He denied making the other racist remarks. Marconi was required to undergo sensitivity training as a result of the investigation, but — surprisingly — was allowed to keep his job.

There was a drive-by shooting at the home of one of the complaining witnesses against Marconi in the 2006 investigation. No one was ever charged for shooting or other threats, and Marconi has vehemently denied involvement in the shooting.