‘Bridgegate’ defendant Baroni to be freed pending high court appeal
A federal judge has ordered the defendant in the so-called Bridgegate lane closure scandal freed from prison pending the case's appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court
TRENTON — Bill Baroni, convicted in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, is to be freed from prison. A federal judge ordered his release Monday pending an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton signed the order shortly after it was filed by attorneys for Baroni, who had started serving an 18-month sentence in April. A message left with his attorneys was not immediately returned.
Bridget Anne Kelly was also convicted in the 2013 scheme, commonly called Bridgegate, and was due to report for a 13-month sentence on July 10. Her attorneys asked the judge to postpone that in light of the high court’s decision Friday to review the case in the fall.
The convictions stem from the 2013 closure of lanes to the bridge connecting New Jersey and New York as part of a political payback scheme.
Baroni was not initially part of the appeal, but was permitted to join Kelly’s effort to overturn their 2016 convictions.
Kelly and Baroni have said they’re grateful the Supreme Court is hearing their appeal and are hopeful the court will find no crime was committed.
Both Baroni and Kelly had their sentences reduced after an appeals court tossed out civil rights convictions last fall. They were also convicted on wire fraud charges for their role in shutting down the bridge’s local lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., just as the school year was beginning, causing gridlock in the town.
Baroni was the deputy executive director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the region’s airports, bridges, and tunnels, including the George Washington Bridge. Kelly served as Gov. Chris Christie’s deputy chief of staff. She authored a now-infamous email that included the line, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
The town’s mayor, a Democrat, had declined to endorse Christie, a Republican, for re-election in 2013. Christie was courting Democrats as part of an effort to show he had cross-party appeal as he prepared to run for president.
Christie has denied any wrongdoing and wasn’t charged. Following the developments in the case Friday, Christie said in an appearance Friday on ABC’s The View that he has always thought the prosecution was political and that no crimes had been committed.
The scandal generated negative headlines for Christie and played a role in his failed 2016 presidential campaign, with his rivals using it to attack the two-term governor. Then-candidate Donald Trump, for example, said Christie knew about the bridge closure — something Christie always denied.
David Wildstein, another former Port Authority official, pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors during the trial. He was convicted and sentenced to probation, and now operates a New Jersey politics news site.