Local New Hampshire newspaper publisher found guilty of political advertisement omissions

By KATHY McCORMACK
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A judge has found the New Hampshire publisher of a weekly community newspaper guilty of five misdemeanor charges that she ran advertisements for local races without properly marking them as political advertising. The judge acquitted Debra Paul, publisher of the Londonderry Times, of a sixth misdemeanor charge on Thursday following a bench trial in November. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. The New Hampshire attorney general’s office charged Paul last year. Paul’s lawyer said she never meant to break the law. He said that while disappointed with the convictions, “we are considering all legal options moving forward.”