Bridgegate Defendant Bridget Anne Kelly Sentenced To 13 Months

FORT LEE, NJ — Bridget Anne Kelly, former Gov. Chris Christie's deputy chief of staff, was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for her role in the "Bridgegate" lane-closing scandal.

U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Kelly, 46, in Newark federal court Wednesday.

Kelly and William Baroni Jr., the former deputy director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 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.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in November 2018, affirmed five of seven convictions for both Baroni and Kelly. Baroni was resentenced to 18 months in prison.

Related: Bridgegate Defendant Baroni Sentenced To 18 Months

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 for four days in September 2013 as retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie for reelection. 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