Richard Rosen sits in Coos County Superior Court on Aug. 15, the day of his sentencing after his conviction May 24 on one count of voter fraud. (Photo by Lisa D. Connell)
Richard Rosen, CEO of American Ag Energy and founder of North Country Growers in Berlin, received a seven-day jail sentence, a fine and will not be allowed to vote again in New Hampshire unless an appeal to, and court ruling by, the state Supreme Court deems he may.
Rosen’s attorney, Michael Connolly, asked Judge Peter H. Bornstein to stay the execution of the sentence pending appeal.
State prosecutor Myles Matteson, a senior assistant attorney general, did not object to Connolly’s motion.
In addition to the jail sentence now under appeal, Rosen also must pay a $4,000 fine and a $960 penalty assessment fee by Sept. 30.
Rosen could have been sentenced to what state statutes for a Class B felony conviction call for — a 3½ to 7-year-term in the state prison.
Matteson earlier in the hearing had asked the court to sentence Rosen to six months in the county House of Correction with all but seven days suspended plus the $4,000 fine, and the loss of the right to vote in New Hampshire until such right restored by the N.H. Supreme Court.
Convicted of voter fraud May 24 by a Grafton County Superior Court jury after a three-day trial, details of the trial were discussed Aug. 15 during the sentencing hearing.
One juror on the trial was dismissed and an alternate juror took that juror’s place because Rosen through an off-handed remark and intermediary tried to reach out to a juror. A tenant in a residential property owned or managed by Rosen was a co-worker of one of the trial’s jurors. Rosen allegedly asked the tenant, whether by a text or spoken message, to have the juror “put in a good word for him,” meaning Rosen.
In their determination of Rosen’s guilt of voter fraud, Bornstein at the sentencing hearing said the jury found Rosen “knowingly” voted twice in November 2016. Rosen requested an absentee ballot from the Holderness town clerk/tax collector at the time, Ellen King.
Rosen then voted at the public library in Belmont, Mass., where that town holds its elections.
Matteson said Rosen’s voting twice in the 2016 general election, which featured a presidential race, gave him an extra voice in the voting process. Rosen, Matteson said, blamed a former business colleague or partner and a handyman at his home in Massachusetts for casting ballots under his name in the Bay State.
Matteson cited the lack of values behind double voting to Rosen which allowed him to “have your voice overrepresented to get more than your fair share.”
“This was a crime of dishonesty and fraud,” Matteson said, and that Rosen had “engaged in double voting on seven instances over a decade.”
Rosen has a home in Belmont, Mass., and a home in Holderness.
Matteson, citing the uncharged conduct, said Rosen voted twice in 1996, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2012, 2014 and the charged conduct — which the jury found that he had done so — in 2016.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Conley co-prosecuted the case.
Connolly spoke of Rosen’s character.
“We’re not here to dispute the charged conduct or conviction,” Connolly began, saying its seriousness was accepted.
“The Attorney General’s office has seriously misrepresented the alleged deception on the part of Richard Rosen,” said Connolly.
Connolly sought no incarceration for Rosen, saying a pattern of deception does not exist and that “the facts are a little unclear” on the jury tampering allegation. He said it wasn’t intentional and that “put in a good word for me” was an inappropriate comment.
“He did not act with an intent to do something nefarious,” Connolly said of Rosen.
Rosen is “an 85-year-old man who has spent his life as an engineer … to try to better his community,” his lawyer said.
“This is a violation of law which now stains his record,” continued Connolly. “The punishment should be measured with regard to the entirety of his life.”
Also in his defense of Rosen, Connolly played a video for the court highlighting and explaining the North Country Growers mission to grow fresh greens year-round in specially constructed greenhouses while employing Coos County residents with well-paying jobs with benefits.
Two people testified on behalf of Rosen during the sentencing hearing — his wife, Marguerite Piret, CFO of American Ag Energy, and Justin Vien, operations manager at North Country Growers in Berlin.
Piret spoke of her work for the North Country Growers’ greenhouse project, telling the court of the $41 million she has raised for the startup, as she called it. Expansion plans at the 183 East Milan Road greenhouse site continue, along with Piret’s financial work; another 12 acres of land will be used for more greenhouses with an additional 40 acres coming on line at a later date.
Rosen spoke in his defense as well, removing the mask covering his mouth and nose as he recovers from a bout with COVID-19.
Rosen said he does not have a lack of respect for the court, “or for the criminal justice system in general in any way.”
“At no time up to now has anyone ever suggested I’ve ever contravened or attempted to contravene without anyone questioning my integrity,” Rosen said.
“I want the court to know I’ve conducted my entire life in accordance with all rules, regulations and proper behavior,” he said.
As earlier reported by the Sun, Richard Tracy, the chief investigator assigned to the election law unit in the N.H. Attorney General’s office, testified on the May trial’s second day about the surfacing of the voting discrepancies.
Tracy said in 2016, the N.H. Legislature voted to participate in Crosscheck, a program that reviews voter ballot-casting duplication among participating states. Tracy said 29 other states participated in Crosscheck to review the names of people voting on Nov. 8, 2016, if they appeared in more than one participating state’s list. If a name appeared more than once among different states, it was compiled into a list. Rosen’s name appeared in Massachusetts and New Hampshire as someone who voted in the November 2016 general election.
Bornstein ruled Aug. 15 on the sentence after a court recess.
Court back in session about 25 minutes later, the judge spoke of the three goals of sentencing in court cases: a punishment for the committed act of which the defendant was convicted; general and specific deterrence to prevent a recurrence of the crime; and rehabilitation.
Bornstein, speaking a day or two before his retirement, said he considered the prosecution and defense sentencing memorandums, the statements of the two witnesses, the greenhouse video, and comments made by Rosen.
Bornstein noted Rosen’s lack of criminal record and various mitigating factors and his entrepreneurial contributions for the North Country plus the facts and circumstances of the crime.
“Some modest amount of time, of stand committed time, is appropriate and necessary to promote the goals of sentencing overall and deterrence in particular,” Bornstein said.
“It’s a knowing act in which the defendant was aware of the circumstances in which he engaged. Knowing voter fraud, it undermines a fundamental right to vote, a right to have an equal vote,” said Bornstein.
The judge said the defense’s request for no stand committed time “is not commensurate with the seriousness of the criminal conduct.”
“It would give short shrift to the goal of general deterrence and not … promote that goal,” Bornstein said of sentencing guidelines.
“Some modest amount of stand committed time is appropriate and necessary to promote the goals of sentencing overall and deterrence in particular.”
Rosen must remain on good behavior as the sentence is appealed.
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