Former Chris Christie Associate Backs Off On Appeals In Bridgegate Case
PHILADELPHIA (KYW-TV) — A one-time associate to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is backing off an attempt to appeal his convictions in connection to the so-called Bridgegate case.
Attorneys for Bill Baroni are seeking to return the case to federal district court so he can obtain a new sentence and start serving it.
In 2016, Baroni and Bridget Kelly were convicted in the alleged plot to cause massive traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge to punish a mayor for not endorsing Christie.
Kelly is appealing her convictions.
Last fall, a federal appeals court upheld most of the convictions against two former allies of Christie. Kelly and Baroni were convicted in 2016 in the alleged plot to cause traffic jams to punish a mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid.
Kelly was the author of the infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email a month before three access lanes to the bridge were reduced to one, without warning to local authorities.
The massive gridlock over four days and part of a fifth in September 2013 mushroomed into a scandal dubbed "Bridgegate" that dragged down Christie's presidential aspirations and, Christie later conceded, played a role in then-Republican nominee Donald Trump's decision not to name him as his running mate.
Baroni was deputy executive director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, and Kelly was Christie's deputy chief of staff. A third defendant, David Wildstein, a former high school classmate of Christie's who reported to Baroni at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty and testified against Baroni and Kelly.