Bridgegate Defendant Baroni Sentenced To 18 Months

FORT LEE, NJ — William Baroni Jr., 47, the former deputy director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months for his role in the "Bridgegate" lane-closing scandal.

U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Baroni in Newark federal court Tuesday.

Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, Governor Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, were found guilty in November 2016 of wire fraud and misappropriating government resources. Baroni was originally sentenced to 24 months in prison. Kelly was sentenced to 18 months. They appealed their convictions.

They were also charged with federal civil rights violations, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned the conviction on that charge, but upheld the other charges. Kelly is appealing her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A third conspirator, David Wildstein, the former director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty in May 2015. He was sentenced to three years probation.

The "Bridgegate" scandal involved shutting down several local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee as retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie for reelection in 2013. A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment against Wildstein, Baroni, and Kelly in May 2015.

Related: Former Christie Allies Get Jail Time For Bridgegate Scandal

Sokolich said that Kelly and Baroni did what they did with "a callous disregard for public safety and the lives of many people."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com