Former New Hampshire sheriff sentenced to prison on perjury charges, accused of taking county funds
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire sheriff who resigned after he was accused of stealing $19,000 in county funds was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 to seven years in prison on perjury charges.
Prosecutors had asked for a seven-to-14-year sentence for Mark Brave.
His lawyer, Leif Becker, had asked that the judge accept a proposed sentence of no prison time 'in mercy,' noting that Brave didn't have a prior criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Brave, 39, was elected as Strafford County sheriff in 2020. At the time, he was both the youngest sheriff and the first Black man to serve as a sheriff in the state.
He was arrested in 2023 and charged with eight felonies following an investigation into accusations that he misused county credit cards. Brave called the arrest a political attack, said he he did nothing wrong and would fight the charges.
Brave was accused of using a county credit card to pay for travel to fictitious business meetings with romantic partners and then lying about it to a grand jury. He went on administrative leave and resigned that December, saying he felt it was in the best interest of the county.
Brave pleaded guilty to four charges in February as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors: two counts of perjury, theft, and falsifying physical evidence.
The agreement called for suspended sentences on the theft and physical evdience charges provided he met conditions such as paying back the county and not seek employment as a law enforcement officer in any jurisdiction.
Brave said in court that he began making poor choices as his marriage was falling apart, The Boston Globe reported.
'I stand before you embarrassed and ashamed of my own conduct,' he said.
Attorney General John Formella said Brave's sentence shows a 'clear and necessary principle' that no one is above the law.
'His repeated lies, misuse of taxpayer funds, and abuse of office were not just criminal — they were a profound betrayal of the public trust and the oath he took to serve with integrity,' Formella said in a statement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Environmentalists criticize Trump administration push for new oil and gas drilling in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Top Trump administration officials — fresh off touring one of the country's largest oil fields in the Alaska Arctic — headlined an energy conference led by the state's Republican governor on Tuesday that environmentalists criticized as promoting new oil and gas drilling and turning away from the climate crisis. Several dozen protesters were outside Gov. Mike Dunleavy's annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage, where U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin were featured speakers. The federal officials were continuing a multiday trip aimed at highlighting President Donald Trump's push to expand oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state. The trip has included meetings with pro-drilling groups and officials, including some Alaska Native leaders on the petroleum-rich North Slope, and a visit to the Prudhoe Bay oil field near the Arctic Ocean that featured selfies near the 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Calls for additional oil and gas drilling — including Trump's renewed focus on getting a massive liquefied natural gas project built — are 'false solutions' to energy needs and climate concerns, protester Sarah Furman said outside the Anchorage convention hall, as people carried signs with slogans such as 'Alaska is Not for Sale' and 'Protect our Public Lands.' "We find it really disingenuous that they're hosting this conference and not talking about real solutions,' she said. Topics at the conference, which runs through Thursday, also include mining, carbon management, nuclear energy, renewables and hydrogen. Oil has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for decades, and Dunleavy has continued to embrace fossil fuels even as he has touted other energy opportunities in the state. Another protester, Rochelle Adams, who is Gwich'in, raised concerns about the ongoing push to allow oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Gwich'in leaders have said they consider the coastal plain sacred, as caribou they rely on calve there. Leaders of the Iñupiaq community of Kaktovik, which is within the refuge, support drilling as economically vital and have joined Alaska political leaders in welcoming Trump's interest in reviving a leasing program there. 'When these people come from outside to take and take and take, we are going to be left with the aftereffects,' Adams said, adding later: 'It's our health that will be impacted. It's our wellness, our ways of life.' Zeldin, during a friendly question-and-answer period led by Dunleavy, said wildlife he saw while on the North Slope didn't appear 'to be victims of their surroundings' and seemed 'happy.' Burgum, addressing a move toward additional drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, said wildlife and development can coexist. His agency during the Alaska trip announced plans to repeal Biden-era restrictions on future leasing and industrial development in portions of the petroleum preserve that are designated as special for their wildlife, subsistence or other values. Wright bristled at the idea of policy "in the name of climate change' that he said would have no impact on climate change. Stopping oil production in Alaska doesn't change demand for oil, he said. 'You know, we hear terms like clean energy and renewable energy. These are inaccurate marketing terms,' he said. 'There is no energy source that does not take significant materials, land and impact on the environment to produce. Zero.' Officials court Asian countries to support gas project Joining for part of the U.S. officials' trip were representatives from Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates. Asian countries are being courted to sign onto the Alaska gas project, which has floundered for years to gain traction amid cost and other concerns. The project, as proposed, would include a nearly 810-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline that would funnel gas from the North Slope to port, with an eye largely on exports of liquefied natural gas. Wright told reporters a goal in inviting them to the Prudhoe Bay stop was for them to see the oil pipeline infrastructure and environment and meet with residents and business leaders. Glenfarne Alaska LNG LLC, which has taken a lead in advancing the project, on Tuesday announced expressions of interest from a number of 'potential partners." Costs surrounding the project — which have been pegged around $44 billion for the pipeline and other infrastructure — are in the process of being refined before a decision is made on whether to move forward. ___ Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woman pleads guilty to aggravated robbery at Urbana car dealership
Editor's Note: Video aired in 2023, after police arrested multiple people in connection to the armed robbery at Crispin Auto. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Nearly two years after the crime occurred, a woman has pleaded guilty for her role in an armed robbery at an Urbana dealership in 2023. On June 7, 2023, a Crispin Auto employee was robbed at gunpoint and a car was stolen. The next day multiple people were arrested in a McLean County town. Police officials said the car they were driving in was stolen from an Urbana dealership. Michaella Campbell pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery on Monday. She was ordered to serve 48 months of probation, 180 days in the Champaign County Correctional Center (with credit for 145 days previously served) and 100 hours of public service work. If Cook County approves, the probation will be served in their jurisdiction. WCIA previously reported that surveillance video obtained after the aggravated robbery shows the incident started with a test drive involving an employee and two White women. When the three returned to Crispin Auto, two Black men were recorded on surveillance footage running up to the car as the employee was getting out. One pointed a gun to the back of the employee's head and shoved her out of the way. Seconds later, the same employee was pepper sprayed by one of the women before she got in the car with the other suspects and drove away. Third defendant in U of I pro-Palestine protest pleads guilty to misdemeanor Three other people were arrested alongside Campbell, according to the Urbana Police Department. This included Michael Roberts, Deandre Young and an unnamed female juvenile. Roberts and Young previously pleaded guilty, in June and December of 2024 respectively, to aggravated robbery. They each received 48 months of probation, and a 180-day jail sentence. Roberts received 366 days credited for time served, while Young received 545 days credited for time served. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
IPL finally delivers for King Kohli after overcoming a conflict and ushering in a teenage star
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli shares a laugh with his wife Anushka Sharma after his team's win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Suryavanshi stands during the award ceremony after his team won the Indian Premier League cricket match against Chennai Super Kings at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, center, flanked with former teammates Chris Gayle, in red turban, and AB de Villiers after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli reacts after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli celebrates with the winners trophy after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli celebrates with the winners trophy after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli shares a laugh with his wife Anushka Sharma after his team's win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Suryavanshi stands during the award ceremony after his team won the Indian Premier League cricket match against Chennai Super Kings at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, center, flanked with former teammates Chris Gayle, in red turban, and AB de Villiers after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli reacts after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli celebrates with the winners trophy after their win in the Indian Premier League final cricket match against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Virat Kohli shed tears. Of joy. At last. Cricket's biggest star, known as 'King Kohli' by his 300 million-plus followers on social media, was there in the infancy of the Indian Premier League in 2008 and had to wait 18 seasons to clinch the title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Advertisement After the six-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Tuesday night to end a dramatic, disrupted season for the world's richest franchise cricket league, Kohli slumped to his knees and cried. He retired from test cricket during the season, leaving his focus on the Twenty20 format at the IPL. 'I have given everything to this franchise for the last 18 years," the 36-year-old star batter said. 'I never thought this moment would come.' Young star emerges The 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became an instant hit and set all kinds of records when he made his century. With some of India's biggest stars nearing retirement, he's being touted as the next big thing. Advertisement A final scene Narendra Modi Stadium was decked in India's national colors while players from Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings went about their pre-match rituals. Both teams went into the decider aiming to win their first IPL title. Fighter jets roared across the evening sky, leaving tricolor vapor lingering. Later, the closing ceremony was a celebration of India's armed forces. This final — on a weekday — was originally scheduled for May 25, and meant to be played in Kolkata. But the league was suspended for a week because of the cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan. In the past, the IPL has moved to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates because of national elections or restrictions imposed to during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension due to a border conflict was unprecedented. Advertisement Border conflict The Punjab Kings-Delhi Capitals game on May 8 was abandoned midway, and squads and broadcast crew traveled by train from Dharamsala to Delhi. Foreign players and their families flew out immediately for their safety. IPL is the biggest money spinner in cricket – one of the biggest properties in world sport – and the major stakeholders were determined for the show to go on. IPL's resumption was never in question once the cross-border tensions eased. The new schedule was drawn up — six venues were short-listed and the final moved from Kolkata to Ahmedabad. Perhaps the biggest takeaway was the swift return of most of the contracted foreign players, especially for teams still in knockout contention. In some situations, where replacements were sought, the Board of Control for Cricket in India allowed teams to hire players short-term. Advertisement Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis, for example, got out of his PSL contract with Quetta Gladiators and signed up with Gujarat Titans for the remainder of the season. The big knocks While the league suspension will go down in history, the season will be memorable for some scintillating cricket — 200-plus totals were posted a record 52 times in 74 matches this season. The previous best was 41 in IPL 2024. Additionally, 200-plus was chased down on nine occasions. 2024 runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished sixth this season scored the season's highest against Rajasthan Royals — 286-6. It also posted the highest successful run-chase, scoring 247-2 in reply to Punjab's 245-6. Advertisement Bengaluru, which arguably boasts of the most passionate supporters in the IPL, winning its maiden IPL title was perhaps a marker of how well the season reemerged after the forced suspension. What's next for India? During the break, Indian cricket also took a giant leap toward its future. Stalwarts Kohli and Rohit Sharma had walked away from test cricket within six days even as the Indian selectors looked ahead to the tour of England which begins this month. Shubman Gill is the new test skipper and will lead India into a whole new era. Sai Sudharsan, the highest run-getter of IPL 2025 with 759 runs in 15 games, has also been picked in India's test squad for England. ___ AP cricket:
