Members of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office and Windham Police executed a search warrant on Windham Selectman Ross McLeod on Wednesday, according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young.
Young told Windham Patch that the matter was referred to their office by the Hillsborough County Attorney's office, and once the investigation began it took them down another road.
She could not comment on the details of the alleged additional criminal activity or the search warrant.
An initial report from the Eagle Tribune said that McLeod will not resign from his position as selectman, according to his lawyer Rusty Chadwick.
Although Chadwick told the paper that the new matter is unrelated, the investigation spawned five months ago from allegations that McLeod was using his email account at the Hillsborough County attorney office to send messages related to gambling and town politics.
The gambling was in relation to emails regarding a fantasy football league that McLeod was a part of.
Windham Patch received those email messages from Windham resident and Americans for Prosperity – New Hampshire Director Corey Lewandowski, who submitted a right to know request on McLeod's work account to receive the correspondences.
Lewandowski was unaware of the search warrant or any possible additional crimes, but commented on McLeod's ability to maintain his position as Selectman.
"I think it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on town business when you are continuing to be under investigation for what I can only assume to be a serious crime," he said.
Lewandowski also clarified that his initial inquiry was not related to McLeod's position on the board.
Correction: An earlier version of this story used the word "crime" in the fifth paragraph, which has been altered to read "matter."
David R. Riese
10:38 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
In your story you use the words "new crime" , however, as far I can recall, no crimes have been proven against Mr. McLeod. Have any charges even been made? Using these words is careless and unfair to the person who is the subject of the investigation. Please be clear about your facts and be careful with your choice of words. A man's reputation is at stake here.
Michael Ryan
10:47 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
Thanks for the comment David. I understand how that wording can be interpreted. I have altered it to "matter."