Newark, NJ – Ex-Christie Aide Gets 13-month Sentence In Bridge Scandal

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    Bridget Anne Kelly, center, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, walks with her lawyer Michael Critchley, right, and an associate while arriving at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Courthouse for a re-sentencing hearing, Wednesday, April 24, 2019, in Newark, N.J. Kelly was convicted in 2016 in the alleged plot to cause traffic jams to punish a mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)Newark, NJ – A onetime aide to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was resentenced Wednesday to 13 months — down from 18 — for her role in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.

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    Bridget Kelly, dabbing her eyes with a tissue at points during the resentencing hearing in federal court in Newark, cried as she asked the judge to consider the impact on her children and impose a sentence of home confinement.

    “I do ask you today to consider what my four children have been through over the past five years,” Kelly said in court.

    She and co-defendant Bill Baroni were convicted in 2016 in what prosecutors and a co-conspirator said was a plot to cause traffic jams near the bridge to punish a mayor who wouldn’t endorse Christie’s reelection.

    Kelly’s attorney Michael Critchley asked the court to consider the emotional and psychological effects the trial had on Kelly and her family, saying that that amounted to punishment.

    “The shrapnel of Bridgegate that affects the Kelly family is embedded. It’s gonna be there forever,” he said.

    He also questioned why Christie, Wildstein and two other former officials, whose names came up during the trial but who went unindicted, seemed to face no punishment.

    “The boys of Bridgegate are doing fine,” he said. “Reputationally, they’re doing fine.”

    Assistant United States Attorney Vikas Khanna argued that a sentence of 13 to 18 months was necessary to send a message to the public that the wrongdoing Kelly was convicted of is unacceptable.

    U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton, who presided over the trial, opened Wednesday’s proceedings by noting that she was “extremely familiar” with the facts and added later that the underlying facts before the court had not changed.

    Last fall, a federal appeals court threw out some of the counts against Kelly and Baroni but upheld the most serious ones.

    Baroni had his sentence reduced from 24 months to 18 months in February and has begun serving his term.

    Kelly was initially sentenced to 18 months. She and Baroni both have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their appeal of their convictions.

    After the resentencing, Kelly spoke briefly, saying that she would not “remain quiet any longer.” She called Christie a bully and said “the days of you calling me a liar and destroying my life are over.”

    Christie, who wasn’t charged and denied wrongdoing, responded in a statement on Wednesday.

    “As I have said before, I had no knowledge of this scheme prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them. No credible evidence was ever presented to contradict that fact. Anything said to the contrary is simply untrue,” he said.

    Kelly was Christie’s deputy chief of staff in 2013 when, prosecutors alleged, she, Baroni and David Wildstein conspired to close access lanes to the bridge over four days to create gridlock in the town of Fort Lee, whose Democratic mayor had declined to endorse Christie, a Republican.

    Kelly authored the infamous “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email the month before the lane realignment went into effect.

    Baroni, a former New Jersey state senator, was appointed by Christie as deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge as well as tunnels, airports, ports and the World Trade Center.

    Wildstein, a high school acquaintance of Christie’s who worked for Baroni at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution. He was sentenced to probation and currently publishes a website on New Jersey politics.

    Kelly and Baroni were convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy and civil rights counts. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the civil rights counts in November, ruling that a right to intrastate travel is not guaranteed under current federal law.

    Though Christie wasn’t charged, he was contradicted by several witnesses who testified during the trial. The ensuing publicity helped derail Christie’s efforts to be the GOP’s 2016 presidential nominee.

    Kelly’s attorneys have argued in court filings that while the actions of their client and Baroni may have been ethically questionable, they weren’t illegal because neither derived personal benefit, and the bridge was still being used for a public purpose.

    They’ve also contended the trial judge erred when she ruled jurors didn’t have to believe the lane realignment was for a political purpose in order to find the defendants guilty.


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    Sol-Sol
    Sol-Sol
    4 years ago

    This story reminds me of the fire in New Square a few years ago…
    A few idiots were seeking to impress the king by playing dirty tricks but the king knew absolutely nothing about their behavior.. yeah right

    4 years ago

    I have no sympathy for Ms. Kelly; she cooked her own goose with her e-mail, which stated “Time to cause some traffic problems on the George Washington Bridge”.

    hashomer
    hashomer
    4 years ago

    Tyrant Trump tells his aides, sycophants, cabinet fools and family to do illegal deeds. He’ll pay for it in federal court like Christie’s shmutz.

    4 years ago

    To: Archy-our resident legal scholar- I don’t know why you had to bring up the race card with this matter. I don’t care if Ms. Kelly has a dozen children. She and Baroni, as well as Wildstein cooked up the plot to shut down traffic lanes, on the GW Bridge, in an effort to retaliate against the Mayor of Ft. Lee, NJ, whom they didn’t like. They endangered the public, especially people who were dependent upon ambulances, EMT’s, firefighters, police emergency vehicles, etc. We were lucky that there was no loss of life. However, when one does the crime, they must pay with their time. Wildstein testified against Baroni and Kelly, and hence, got off without any jail time. There is no proof that Christy knew about this plot in advance. Some have speculated that he knew about the plot while it was occurring, but didn’t end it. It was not just a “silly deed”. It was governmental corruption. Kelly was lucky that she was only sentenced to 13 months. The former Governor of Illinois, Blagojevich, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly selling a Senate seat.

    4 years ago

    To: #8 - Justice was served in this case; for the millionth time, there is no conclusive or definitive proof, that Chris Christie knew in advance, of the plot to close the George Washington Bridge; otherwise, he would have been indicted with the rest of those miscreants.

    Incidentally, using your scholarly and misguided logic, if someone gets caught cheating on their federal income taxes, and is convicted, they should not be sent to jail. Tell that to Wesley Snipes, an actor, who served three years in prison for income tax evasion, or Jerry Kuntz, of the NY Mets, who served six months for the same offense. Duke Snider and Willie McCovey were also caught cheating on their income taxes, but were not sent to jail, although they could have been.

    My Physics Professor once taught me that &#8 220;for every action, there is a reaction&#8 221;. You do the crime, and you WILL do the time. Case closed!

    4 years ago

    To: #12 - “We all knew he knew”. Who is the “we”. YOU? You profess to be very knowledgeable in Torah, and purport to be a frum person. Yet, you engage constantly in Lashon Hora. You could probably (using a ghost writer), author such a book, on how to engage in that sport. Incidentally, anyone who violates the IRS code, by intentionally filing a false federal tax return (either omitting income, or lying about income), must be sentenced to jail, whether they are frum or non-frum. I work very hard (and spend many hours), on preparing an honest tax return; it burns the —– out of me, when I learn of individuals, famous, non-famous, rich and poor, who seem to feel that they can cheat on their taxes, and get away with it. Likewise, the idiotic parents, involved in the college admission scandal, also thought that because they were rich and famous, that the law didn’t apply to them. Well, Archy, I have news for you-they are all going down, including Ms. Lori Loughlin.

    4 years ago

    To #17 - Get your facts straight, Archy. Trump did not have an affair with Stormy. It was a one night stand (one time). He did have an affair with the Playboy Playmate, which purportedly lasted about 11 months. I believe Christie did not know about the GW Bridge affair in advance. He may have known about it, once it was occurring. It is astounding that as a frum person, you are actually giving people a green light, who cheat on their taxes, and make excuses for them. I am not referring to people who make honest errors on complicated tax returns. I’m referring to people, who intentionally scam the government out of money, with impunity, and think that they can get away with it. Secondly, the parents involved in the college admission scandal should be held in the highest contempt. It doesn’t matter if they were rich, or poor slobs.
    Have a good Yom Tov!