Marshals: Drug Abusing New Hampshire Fugitive Caught A Day Early

CONCORD, NH — This week’s New Hampshire Fugitive of the Week, a previous fugitive before, has been captured again, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

James Marshall Canney, 60, was arrested in Center Barnstead on Tuesday on a state of New Hampshire parole violation warrant and a Rockingham County warrant for failure to appear on assault and habitual offender charges. He was to be featured on Wednesday but was caught early, Jeffrey White, a deputy marshal, said.

Back in March, Canney was arrested by task force members and Manchester police on two warrants after what White called a low-speed chase in Manchester, amassing more charges in the process. He was then bailed and taken to Rockingham County where a judge granted him $5,000 cash bail on the county’s charges. After paying the cash, Canney was supposed to be returned to the New Hampshire State Prison for Men to answer to the parole violation. Instead, he was inadvertently released, White said.

Canney then failed to appear in Rockingham County Superior Court again to face the previous charges and another warrant was issued for his arrest.

Task force members were able to track Canney down working at a home under construction on Peter Biron Road in Center Barnstead, White said.

“At this residence, Mr. Canney was observed working at the rear of the residence,” he said. “Upon being confronted by law enforcement, Canney ran inside the residence and attempted to hide in an unfinished first floor closet without success. Canney was arrested without any further incident.”

Canney was taken to the state prison for a pending hearing with the parole board which will determine how long he will be kept in prison this time for his parole violations. After that, he will be taken to Rockingham County to settle those legal matters, White said.

According to superior court records, Canney has felony charges dating back to 2010.

After an incident in Manchester in September 2010, Canney was convicted on acts prohibited; controlled drug act as well as driving violations in August 2011. In September 2012, he was charged with operating as a certified habitual offender as well as a license plate violation in Raymond. He pleaded guilty to the two felony habitual officer charges as well as a probation violation in May 2013.

Canney pleaded guilty again to felony habitual offender in March 2015 after an incident in Hampton the year before. In June 2016, he was charged again with habitual offender and bail jumping as well as resisting arrest in Manchester. Canney pleaded guilty to the charges in January 2017. In 2018, he ran into more problems — drug possession in Merrimack in January 2018, and habitual offender and four controlled drug act charges, after two separate incidents in Manchester, in September 2018, with a mix of guilty pleas. He pleaded guilty to a probation violation in May 2019 for the habitual offender and bail jumping case.

Canney was also charged with felony drug possession in December 2020 in Epping. He pleaded guilty to the charge in April 2021. Later, on Jan. 27, he was charged with violation of probation, leading to his fugitive status in February.

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