Despite federal sentencing, Murray still facing state sex assault charges

John Murray, former manager of West Alton Marina, was sentenced last week to 25 years in federal prison on four counts of sex trafficking minors and 12 counts of production of child sex abuse images. The 25-year sentence is part of a plea deal and does not reflect the maximum punishment for the crimes.

According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the mandatory minimum term for child pornography production is 15 years of imprisonment, with a maximum of 30 years. Sex trafficking minors has a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Brian Fortier, owner of West Alton Marina, is facing his own criminal and civil charges, which Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois says are not impacted by Murray's plea and sentencing.

John Murray's case

Evidence shows a pattern of Murray preying on underage employees at the marina for years. According to documents from both civil and criminal cases, Murray would coerce teenage boys into recording sex acts of themselves or allowing him to perform sex acts on them. Those who refused him were allegedly assigned harder labor and given fewer hours. The teens who went along with Murray's demands were given financial compensation or extra privileges.

Murray was also indicted on three counts of aggravated felonious assault and one count of sexual assault involving a victim aged 13 to 15. Those charges will be adjudicated at the state level.

"We will see whether the state charges will also resolve through some sort of negotiation, plea bargain," Livernois said. "We're still in discussion about that."

If Murray is found guilty on state charges, there are a few options for his sentencing.

"Sometimes, if you plead guilty in federal court and you are also found guilty in state court, those additional years get tacked on at the end as consecutive time," Livernois explained. "You would finish the federal sentence, then they would transfer you back to state prison and serve your state time."

In this scenario, Murray could find himself transferred to state prison at the age of 81.

"Sometimes, depending on how the sentence is set up, the state time runs concurrently with the federal time," Livernois said. "So, you serve both at the same time.

"Let's say you have a long federal sentence and a shorter state sentence. The state sentence runs out while you're still serving your federal sentence, and you never have to go back to the state prison."

The state penalty for felonious sexual assault is 10 to 20 years.

Brian Fortier's case

Several months after Murray's indictment, accusations of sexual abuse surfaced against Fortier, who was also Murray's domestic partner, according to court records.

Fortier is facing two charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving a minor and two counts of witness tampering for allegedly offering college tuition assistance and other bribes to another minor in exchange for "sticking by his side" during the case.

The affidavit for Fortier's initial arrest includes transcripts of text messages sent between himself and Murray discussing one of Murray's underage victims sexually.

Fortier and the marina face a slew of civil suits, in addition to Fortier's criminal charges.

The suits claim that leadership staff at the marina, including Fortier, failed to act on Murray's abusive behavior when victims came forward with concerns.

Documents from the civil suits describe a sexually charged environment at West Alton Marina, where minor staff were encouraged to wear shirts with suggestive slogans and allowed to consume alcohol at parties. One document alleges the marina had a "jack shack" where employees could view and stimulate themselves to pornography during work hours.

After his indictment, Fortier's bail was set at $10,000, with the condition that he have no "unsupervised contact including direct, indirect, or third-party contact with anyone under 18."

In May 2022, Fortier was arrested for violating this agreement by allegedly meeting and speaking with a 17-year-old former employee on marina property. Police confirmed the meeting after interviewing the teen in question, who was also a witness in Murray's case. Although he was held in detention for a short period of time, Fortier has not been charged with breach of bail, according to Livernois.

Fortier was then placed on electronic monitoring. Just a few months later, Fortier's defense team requested his bail be modified to suspend all pretrial monitoring services, including electronic monitoring, and even allow Fortier to travel freely to his winter residence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Judge Elizabeth Leonard granted the request.

"Every case is unique and individual, and each judge has to balance the needs to protect the community versus the defendant's rights," Livernois said. "Not every person who violates a bail order is going to be held for the remainder of the time prior to trial."

Livernois also noted that Fortier had behaved exceptionally well since the alleged incident, and that going forward, West Alton Marina has agreed not to hire anyone under the age of 18 for the 2023 season.

The outcome of Murray's case will not affect Fortier's case.

"While some of the facts may be related, they are separate charges involving separate incidents," Livernois said. "The fact that Mr. Murray pled guilty to his federal charges does not affect, in any way, the case against Mr. Fortier," Livernois said.

Fortier's criminal trial is set for May 30.