Ex-New Hampshire Senator, Casino Owner Pleads Guilty to Stealing $250,000

A former New Hampshire congressman pleaded guilty to stealing government money for his casino.

Andy Sanborn, a New Hampshire  Senator from the 7th and 9th District from 2010-18, admitted to illegally using government-provided COVID-19 relief money to buy a Porsche and to pay for personal expenses.

As part of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of one year and one day. Judge Landya McCafferty at the U.S. District Court in Concord agreed with the sentencing length and said that Sanborn could be out in 10 months with good behavior.

Tracking the scandal

Prosecutors in the case asserted that Sanborn, 64, wired $48,750 of his $255,500 in relief funds to an individual in Florida to pay for a 2006 Porsche Cayman.

“This casino owner must’ve thought he hit the jackpot when he got more than a quarter of a million dollars set aside to keep businesses afloat amid a pandemic battering our economy,” said Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, in a statement. “But the odds and the FBI finally caught up with him when he misused that money for his own financial gain.”

Anyone who is found guilty of the crimes that Sanborn was accused of could face up to 10 years in federal prison. Although prosecutors and the judge seemed to support the one-year, one-day length, sentencing will not be determined until an upcoming hearing.

In addition to serving time behind bars, Sanborn will be required to surrender his passport and any documents that would enable him to travel outside of the country. He must also pay back $255,231.72 that he was given. 

Prosecutors agreed they would not pursue charges against Sanborn’s wife, Laurie, a former New Hampshire State Representative, or the Concord Casino, which the couple co-owned until it was shuttered on Dec. 31, 2023. The casino offered slot machine games, blackjack, and other common casino amenities.

More charges pending

Sanborn had applied for and received an $844,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration. He applied on behalf of Win Win Win, the company that owned and operated the casino.

Prosecutors found that Sanborn described his business as “miscellaneous services,” since charitable gaming facilities were not eligible to receive loans.

Sanborn was hoping to land approval for a larger charitable gaming facility in Concord when allegations of misappropriating government funds were first raised. The project was shut down after state gaming officials found that Sanborn should not maintain a gaming license.

The state eventually ordered the shutdown of Concord Casino and gave Sanborn six months to find an appropriate buyer. He eventually settled on an anonymous suitor, although the state did not agree that they were fit for the property and blocked the sale.

Sanborn and Win Win Win are still facing separate state theft charges from the state’s Main Street Relief Program. Investigators claim that the former Congressman used relief funds to pay off the mortgage of a lakefront property in Laconia owned by Laurie. 

The trial for that case is scheduled for February.