Two former associates of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for their roles in the “Bridgegate” lane closure scandal that played a part in torpedoing the Republican’s White House ambitions.
Bridget Kelly, 44, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Bill Baroni, 45, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty in November of orchestrating the shutdown of access lanes at the heavily used George Washington Bridge in 2013.
Prosecutors said the resulting traffic gridlock was intended to punish a local mayor for refusing to back Christie’s re-election bid, as the governor’s aides tried to burnish his bipartisan credentials in advance of his run for president.
Christie has denied any involvement and was not charged. But the scandal’s lasting fallout dampened enthusiasm for Christie as he sought the Republican nomination for president in 2016 and later helped cost him a job in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark to sentence Kelly and Baroni to about three years in prison, saying in court papers a stiff punishment was needed to reflect the seriousness of government corruption.
