A town clerk will pay fines and be stripped of his justice of the peace accreditions, but avoid jail time, after he signed a marriage license for a wedding he didn’t perform, involving a groom who was dead.
Jim Tetreault pleaded guilty in Keene District Court on Thursday to a misdemeanor count of notarial misconduct. He was given a suspended sentence of 90 days in jail, assessed a $1,240 fine, and resigned his justice of the peace and bail commissioner positions.
According to prosecutors, Tetreault signed a marriage license for Wendy Leedberg-Snow and Eric Leedberg. Tetreault originally told investigators that he performed the ceremony in his living room in September 2023. Tetreault would later admit, however, that he didn’t perform the ceremony, and that he was asked by Leedberg-Snow to sign the document some time after Eric Leedberg’s death.
He told authorities that he was friendly with Leedberg-Snow, who changed her legal name shortly before Eric Leedberg’s death. In his obituary, she is described as his “significant other.”
Leedberg’s family alerted authorities after they received his death certificate, which listed Leedberg-Snow as his spouse.
Leedberg-Snow has not yet been charged with any wrongdoing, but the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office confirmed she is under investigation. She previously declined to comment to NHPR.
Tetreault was back in his office as town clerk and tax collector in Winchester by midday Thursday. He declined to comment when reached by NHPR, but through his attorney, said that he “took responsibility for my poor choice in that one moment. I want to thank my family and friends and the townspeople for their support during this time."
Tetreault was facing felony charges for vital records fraud, but accepted a plea deal on a misdemeanor count. Under the terms of the settlement, he agreed to not seek reappointment as a justice of the peace or notary for two years.
