William E. Baroni Jr., 44, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, 44, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie, were convicted on all seven counts in a criminal scheme to weaponize traffic lanes against Fort Lee, New Jersey.
The jury, deliberating less than four days after a six-week trial in Newark federal court, found the pair guilty of conspiring to misuse government property, wire fraud, and violating civil rights. The charges stem from their role in abruptly reducing local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge from three to one without warning—deliberately causing gridlock to punish Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Gov. Christie’s 2013 re-election.
Baroni and Kelly were convicted of conspiring to misuse, and actually misusing, property of an organization receiving federal benefits; conspiring to commit, and committing, wire fraud; and conspiring to injure and oppress, and acting under color of law to deprive individuals of civil rights. All acts were carried out under the guise of a fake traffic study, court evidence revealed.
David Wildstein, the former director of Interstate Capital Projects at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty May 1, 2015, to two counts of conspiracy tied to the same scheme. He admitted to conspiring to misuse federal-funded resources and to injure civil rights by orchestrating the lane closures as political retaliation.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman called the verdict a victory for public integrity: “We are gratified that the members of the jury saw the evidence the way we saw it.” FBI Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher added that New Jersey citizens “deserve honest services from their government.”
Michael Nestor, Port Authority Inspector General, praised the investigation, saying the verdict holds officials accountable for abusing power. The case, rooted in August 2013 planning and executed during the first week of school in September 2013, exposed a calculated abuse of infrastructure for political vengeance.
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Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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