A former Democratic campaign worker was fined $1,200 in court Friday for authoring a hoax email announcing that a state representative candidate was dropping out of a 2015 special election.
Carl Gibson, 31, of Concord will avoid jail time after pleading guilty in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord to one count of forgery, a Class B misdemeanor. In addition to the $1,200 fine, he must also pay $280 in court fees – all of which were due at the conclusion of Friday morning’s plea and sentencing hearing.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office filed the new forgery charge as part of a plea agreement reached with Gibson. A grand jury indicted Gibson in fall 2015 on alternative felony charges of voter suppression and attempted voter suppression, but the more serious charges were dropped Friday as part of the deal.
The brief hearing resolved a multi-year court battle that started in May 2015 when Gibson was accused of sending a phony concession statement from then-Republican state representative candidate Yvonne Dean-Bailey to news outlets. It also ended the department of justice’s efforts to compel former Monitor reporter Nick Reid to testify against Gibson at trial – an argument that went before the state’s highest court.
Assistant Attorney Matthew Broadhead told Judge Richard McNamara that had the case against Gibson gone to trial next month, as scheduled, he would have called Dean-Bailey’s former Democratic challenger Maureen Mann – who ultimately lost the special election – and Reid to the witness stand.
Gibson had volunteered on Mann’s campaign for a seat in Rockingham County’s 32nd district, covering Candia, Deerfield, Northwood and Nottingham. Gibson had managed Mann’s social media accounts, but without her knowledge or consent began posting items attacking Dean-Bailey.
“He was let go,” Broadhead said.
A short time later, news outlets received a “breaking news” press release purported to be from Dean-Bailey, which said she planned to drop out of the race days ahead of the special election to focus on her college studies. Reid was among the reporters to receive the email, and learned it was a hoax and written by Gibson, Broadhead said.
Gibson’s name was found on the electronic properties of the press release, a Microsoft word document attached to the email.
In an interview, Gibson told the Monitor he considered the email a “prank” and that he’d “probably had one too many beers” before he sent it.
“I thought it was funny,” he said at the time. “I didn’t really think it would be taken seriously.”
But the attorney general’s office did take it seriously, and issued a warrant for Gibson’s arrest.
Assistant Attorney General Stephen LaBonte subpoenaed Reid, wanting him to testify at Gibson’s criminal trial about his reporting process and interview with Gibson.
The Monitor, through attorney Bill Chapman, objected and argued the newsgathering privilege in the state and U.S. constitutions protects Reid from being forced to testify. Initially, the lower court ruled in the newspaper’s favor and quashed the subpoena. However, the attorney general’s office appealed the decision, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s order.
With the plea deal accepted Friday by the court and the case resolved, the subpoena against Reid is now moot.
Dean-Bailey, of Northwood, resigned from the Legislature this past April, citing a new job that required her to work a standard full-time schedule. She was elected to two terms in the House.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or adandrea@cmonitor.com)