Gov. Christie laughs and holds hands with Trump at the White House while his former aides are senten
Former Gov. Christie aides Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly were sentenced to prison time on Wednesday for their respective roles in the Bridgegate scandal
Baroni was sentenced to two years while Kelly was given 18 months
The two conspired in a plot to create traffic chaos in Fort Lee, New Jersey in September 2013, after the major refused to back Christie in his re-election
During their sentencing hearing, Christie was at the White House for a meeting with President Trump about the opioid epidemic
The president has appointed Christie to tackle the country's addiction issue
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4361418/Former-Christie-aide-sentenced-two-years-prison.htm
While New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie laughed and held hands with President Trump in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, two of his former aides were sentenced to serious prison time for their roles in the Bridgegate scandal.
Bill Baroni, 45, and Bridget Kelly, 44, were sentenced to two years and 18 months in prison respectively at the federal courthouse in Newark. They must also complete 500 hours of community service.
Kelly, the governor's deputy chief of staff, and Baroni, his appointee at the Port Authority, were found guilty on all counts against them in November including wire fraud, conspiracy and misusing the nation's busiest bridge for improper purposes. They had both asked the judge for probation instead of jail time.
The two conspired to slow traffic on the GW Bridge in September 2013, to get back at the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey for refusing to endorse Christie in his re-election.
'I let a lot of people down who believed in me and relied on me. Most of all I let Mark Sokolich down. That was my choice and my responsibility. And I made the wrong choice,' Baroni told U.S. Judge Susan Wigenton before she sentenced him.
'I was wrong and I am truly sorry, and I've waited three years to say that.
'I let a lot of people down who believed in me and relied on me. Most of all I let Mark Sokolich down. That was my choice and my responsibility. And I made the wrong choice,' Baroni told U.S. Judge Susan Wigenton before she sentenced him.
'I was wrong and I am truly sorry, and I've waited three years to say that.
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Get a room, fellas.
March 29, 2017 at 8:20 AM, updated March 29, 2017 at 3:48 PM
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/what_christie_said_about_todays_upcoming_bridgegat.html#incart_river_index
TRENTON -- Hours before two of his former allies are scheduled to be sentenced in the Bridgegate trial Wednesday, Gov. Chris Christie declined to say whether they should receive prison time.
"The judge will do what the judge believes appropriate," Christie said during a television interview on NBC's "Today" show. "And it's not my role or anybody else's role, other than the judge in that courtroom, to pass sentence on people that have committed crimes."
Christie made the comments during a morning media blitz in which he gave live interviews to three morning network news shows on the front lawn of the White House -- where he will join President Donald Trump, a longtime friend, later in the day at a roundtable to discuss opioid addiction in the U.S. Trump has picked Christie to chair a federal commission to battle the issue.
Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former executive at the Port Authority whom Christie appointed, were convicted last year of orchestrating traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in 2013 to punish a Democratic mayor who declined to endorse the Republican governor's re-election bid.
Defiant Kelly, Baroni pledge to appeal prison sentences in Bridgegate case
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/defiant_kelly_baroni_pledge_to_appeal_bridgegate_s.html#incart_river_index
Christie was never charged in the matter and has repeatedly denied knowledge of the lane closings until months later.
on March 29, 2017 at 4:11 PM, updated March 29, 2017 at 4:32 PM
NEWARK -- Vowing to appeal her case and the 18-month prison sentence handed down by a federal judge on Wednesday, former Gov. Chris Christie senior staffer Bridget Anne Kelly said she refuses to be "the scapegoat" for the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal.
Kelly, speaking near the steps of Newark's federal courthouse, was sentenced Wednesday along with former Port Authority deputy executive Bill Baroni, who was ordered to spend two years behind bars.
"I want to ensure my kids and everyone else that this fight is far from over," Kelly said.
In the courtroom earlier, Kelly and Baroni were chided by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark for a case that "from the beginning ... was and is about the abuse of power."
Did Christie's job approval rating finally hit bottom? That's no doubt the question that haunts Trump because Trump figures if Christie's poll numbers drop into the single digits ,it will be far too risky to pull him out of there. Cut and run is Christies game.