Former NH Senator Andy Sanborn Pleads Guilty to Buying Porsche with COVID Relief Funds

Former New Hampshire state senator and casino owner Andy Sanborn pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday (July 8) to stealing government funds, admitting he used more than $255,000 in federal COVID-19 relief money to buy a Porsche and fund other personal luxuries.

Prosecutors say Sanborn diverted more than $255,000 of the money to personal expenses. State investigators have alleged purchases included two Porsches and a Ferrari for him and his wife, Laurie Sanborn.

The former Republican lawmaker, who called himself the “Conservative conscience” of the New Hampshire Senate, is facing a recommended prison sentence of one year and one day, according to his plea deal.

Prosecutors have agreed not to pursue criminal charges against either Laurie Sanborn or the Concord Casino as part of the deal.

Win Win Win

During the pandemic, Sanborn applied for and received in total $844,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan funding from the Small Business Administration on behalf of Win Win Win, the company that owned and operated the Concord Casino.

On the loan application, prosecutors say Sanborn described his business as “miscellaneous services” rather than identifying it as Concord Casino, because charitable gaming facilities were not eligible for the funding.

“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.”

Plight of the Concord

At the time the allegations surfaced, Sanborn was pursuing approval for a much larger charitable gaming complex in Concord, a project that collapsed when regulators found him unsuitable to hold a gaming license.

In December 2023, the state ordered the Concord Casino to close and gave Sanborn six months to sell it to an approved buyer. The Concord Casino has remained closed after regulators blocked its sale to an unknown buyer.

In October 2024, state prosecutors filed a separate felony theft-by-deception charge against Sanborn, alleging he inflated his business revenue to obtain around $188,000 too much from New Hampshire’s Main Street Relief Fund.

Some of that money went to paying off the mortgage on a lakefront property in Laconia owned by Laurie Sanborne.

Sanborn’s trial on the state charges is scheduled for February 2027. He is due to be sentenced on the federal charge on October 15, 2026.