Drug Kingpin loses release from parole request

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Christopher Bouchard and his attorney William Christie at an April court hearing. Photo/Pat Grossmith

MANCHESTER, NH – A Superior Court judge has rejected a convicted drug kingpin’s request to eliminate his parole supervision which he said was hampering the expansion of his businesses.

Christopher Bouchard, 50, of Laconia, was sentenced in December 2007 in Hillsborough County Superior Court to 13 to 50 years in prison after his conviction as a Drug Enterprise Leader and three counts of conspiracy to sell a controlled drug.  He also was convicted in federal court of conspiracy to commit money laundering and received a concurrent six-year suspended sentence.

Judge N. William Delker, in an order dated May 9, 2023, said Bouchard has “barely been released to the community for eight years.  He has had a meteoric rise during that time.  While the Court is optimistic that the defendant will not relapse to his old ways, it is far too early to lift parole supervision.”

Bouchard, the judge said, was convicted of large-scale drug trafficking, involving hundreds of pounds of marijuana as well as kilograms of cocaine.

He was “not merely a street-level drug dealer. The presentence investigation report from his federal money laundering conviction paints the picture of a sophisticated criminal who amassed tremendous wealth from his illegal operation,” the judge said.

Bouchard, according to court papers, imported multiple shipments of hundreds of pounds of marijuana into New Hampshire from Arizona from 2000 to 2005 with a network of more than 20 co-conspirators.  One of them transported the drugs by truck from Arizona with construction materials and other vehicles. 

According to the federal pre-sentence investigation report, Bouchard worked with a certified public accountant to launder money through real estate purchases and then paid the accountant in kilogram quantities of cocaine.  Investigators seized about 300 pounds of marijuana and a kilogram of cocaine when they brought down Bouchard’s operation.

As part of his federal money laundering conviction, Bouchard forfeited $1.3 million in cash, real estate on Weirs Beach, Gunstock Mountain and in Manchester (a home on Union Street in the North End), and three vehicles, including two trucks and a Mercedes Benz.

Since his release from prison, however, Delker said Bouchard “has risen from the ashes of his former life.”  He worked his way from being a line cook at Cheers in Concord to running several successful, multi-million-dollar businesses in New Hampshire and Florida.”

Delker said what was most impressive was a bank representative who provided the defendant with financing for his businesses.

“The bank was aware of the defendant’s prior criminal activity, including the money laundering conviction. As a result, the witness testified they took particular care to audit the defendant’s books.  The bank concluded that the defendant’s current business dealings are all above-board,” Delker wrote.  

Dozens of people wrote letters of support for Bouchard, many saying he is a changed man.  Among them was District 1 Executive Councilor Joseph D. Kenney, who said he met Bouchard two years ago when the mayor of Laconia asked him to reach out to him about a major marina rehab project Bouchard had undertaken in Laconia.  Kenney said he was fully aware of Bouchard’s past and “if there is a poster boy of a successfully rehabilitated individual it is Chris.”

Gary Fecteau of Manchester, who served 28 years in prison on sexual assault convictions and was dubbed the “UNH rapist,” also wrote a letter of support on March 26, 2023.  In it, he said Bouchard offered him a job at Quality Granite & Cabinets in 2019.  The next year, Fecteau started his own business and when in 2021 he got divorced, Bouchard loaned him $250,000 to pay off his mortgage and buy out his wife.  Fecteau said he has since repaid the loan.

According to court records, Bouchard said he “has been extraordinarily successful in the seven years since his release.”  After working odd jobs to get his feet back on the ground, Bouchard started Quality Granite and Cabinetry which now installs over 100 residential kitchens per month.

He also has two real estate companies, 2nd Chance Housing LLC, which owned nine properties in New Hampshire providing housing for low-income individuals and a second chance for people on probation or parole, and JCB LLC which buys and sells more than 10 properties a year in New Hampshire and Florida.

He recently formed two new businesses:  Knotty Marine Inc., which owns a marina on Lake Winnisquam, and Winnisquam Jet Ski Rentals LLC.

The businesses grossed $9.43 million in 2021, according to court documents.

He argued that his success while on parole over the last seven years demonstrates that continued parole is unnecessary.  As it stands now, his parole would last until May 18, 2055, another 32 years.

He said despite his successes, conditions of parole limit his ability to expand the businesses and employ more people.  Inconsistent guidance from parole offers, he said, caused him a financial burden and forced him to abandon projects that were initially approved.

As an example, he said 2nd Chance Housing focused on renting to individuals on probation or parole, providing a safe environment for those in the Concord area. However, he said conditions placed upon his ability to rent to individuals on probation and parole forced him to sell properties owned by 2nd Chance Housing.

Bouchard owns several properties in Florida but is constricted from developing them because current parole restrictions limit him to one trip a month out of state, lasting 4 to 8 days, and one longer trip per year, not to exceed 45 days.

Bouchard said he had a lucrative opportunity establishing a cabinet line from China, but he was not permitted to travel there to finalize the agreement even though he was previously allowed to travel outside of the country by federal probation and his prior state parole officer.

Attorney William E. Christie, in court records, writes that Bouchard “is the exact success story the judicial system should hope for when an individual is sentenced for a serious crime.”

Delker, however, said given the nature of his criminal conduct, it is reasonable for a parole officer to restrict his travel and his association with known criminals, and to review his assets and financial holdings.

“All of these parole requirements further the objective of supervising the defendant, ensuring that he is truly rehabilitated, and protecting the public from the risk that the defendant may backslide into drug dealing,” Delker wrote.  “Unfortunately, all-too-often a financial or personal set-back can derail an otherwise positive post-prison trajectory.”


 

About this Author

Pat Grossmith

Pat Grossmith is a freelance reporter.