Christie Crime Digest-Volume IV

[Laxman]

143. I Didn't Honestly Think...

that I would ever be making this post:

Bridgegate verdict: Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly guilty on all counts

Two former Christie administration insiders charged in a bizarre scheme of political retaliation against a mayor who refused to endorse the governor for re-election were found guilty Friday on all counts in the long-running Bridgegate saga.

In a seven-week trial that saw their own words used against them, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly were convicted of helping orchestrate massive traffic tie-ups at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. The plot was hatched to send a pointed message to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, after he stepped back from his earlier public support of Gov. Chris Christie.

The jury passed a note to judge Friday morning, indicating it had reached a verdict. Attorneys started to filter back into the federal courthouse around 11 a.m. The jury began reading its findings just before 11:30 a.m. and delivered their guilty decisions in rapid fire.

Baroni and Kelly were charged on nine counts, and faced five of them together. The other four charges were split evenly, two each for the defendants.

Baroni stared at the jury stoically as the verdicts were read.

Kelly cried and continued to sob as she heard the word guilty repeated time and again. Neither defendant stood as the verdicts were read.

Afterward, Kelly hugged her attorney and her mother.

Baroni was embraced by his attorney and then went to his parents.

The decision came one day after U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton denied a defense motion to re-instruct the jury.

Wigenton set the sentencing date for Feb. 21. Baroni and Kelly face a maximum of 20 years in prison, but are likely to serve far less under federal sentencing guidelines.

The criminal case, built around a rarely used provision of a fraud statute that makes it a crime to "misapply" property of federal aid recipients, charged that Baroni and Kelly intentionally misapplied the property or money of the Port Authority.

The jury of seven women and five men heard from 35 witnesses, including both defendants who took the stand on their behalf. But the most damaging evidence might have been the now-infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email sent by Kelly less than a month before several local access toll lanes at the world's busiest bridge were inexplicably closed for nearly a week in September 2013, leading to paralyzing gridlock on local streets.

Read the rest here: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/bridgegate_verdict_bill_baroni_and_bridget_kelly_g.html


Can we get a little bit of respect for the Christie Crime Digest?