CONCORD — The Executive Council approved a $64,922 lease agreement on May 21 between the NH Bureau of Rail and Transit and JCB LLC for the use of state-owned property along Lake Winnisquam in Belmont, over the objection of District 3 Executive Councilor Janet Stevens.
JCB LLC is owned by Christopher Bouchard of Laconia and operates as a “business of owning, managing, developing, renting, and otherwise dealing with real property and all services and activities related thereto,” according to its filing with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Stevens objected to the contract, saying, “I cannot, in good conscience, support the approval of a lease agreement involving state-owned property with an individual who admitted to being in major interstate drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations.”
Court documents show that Bouchard, as part of a network of more than 20 co-conspirators, imported several shipments of hundreds of pounds of marijuana into New Hampshire from Arizona between 2000 and 2005. A federal pre-sentencing report stated that Bouchard worked with a certified public accountant to launder money through real estate purchases and then paid the accountant in kilogram quantities of cocaine. During Bouchard’s arrest, investigators seized about 300 pounds of marijuana and a kilogram of cocaine. As part of his federal money laundering conviction, Bouchard forfeited $1.3 million in cash, real estate at Weirs Beach, Gunstock Mountain, and Manchester, and three vehicles, including two trucks and a Mercedes Benz.
In addition to an eight-and-a-half year federal sentence, Bouchard received a 13- to 50-year prison sentence in New Hampshire in 2007, but has since been released.
“At the time,” Stevens said, “the Department of Justice, led by now-Governor Ayotte, reported that there were less than 10 individuals who had been convicted in New Hampshire on a charge of being a drug enterprise leader. Mr. Bouchard’s conviction as a drug enterprise leader in one of the most serious charges in New Hampshire law underscores the scale, duration, and the sophistication of his criminal enterprise. This network of thousands of pounds of marijuana and multiple kilograms of cocaine were drugs directly fueling addiction, violence, and long-term harm in many ways. These are not victimless crimes; these are offenses that tear apart our society, particularly in the midst of public health crisis.”
She continued, “The properties in question, some of which have been forfeited as part of his plea, were purchased using the profits of drug enterprise funds, public resources, and public lands, and must never be used to legitimize or reward those who build their fortunes by harming others and undermining the rule of law. For this reason, I vote no on the proposed lease and will continue to advocate for decisions that uphold the transparency, accountability, and the public interest.”
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