Two of Gov. Chris Christie’s former cronies are expected to appear Monday in federal court on charges that they conspired to shut down lanes to the George Washington Bridge in 2013 in an alleged political payback plot, according to a report.
Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, are expected before US District Court Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark at 11 a.m., NJ.com reported.
Kelly, 42, and Baroni, 43, were each named in a nine-count indictment in which they are accused of plotting the bridge lane closures to punish Fort Lee Mayor Marc Sokolich for not backing Christie’s re-election bid in 2013.
David Wildstein, another former crony of Christie, pleaded guilty Friday in the “Bridgegate” scandal — and is willing to testify that the governor knew about crippling lane closures as they were happening, his lawyer said.
David Wildstein, who scored a $150,000-a-year Port Authority job through his Christie connections, entered into a cooperation deal with prosecutors and admitted scheming to snarl traffic near the bridge.
He pleaded guilty to two federal conspiracy charges and agreed to cooperate in a bid for leniency.
Smoking-gun emails between Wildstein and Kelly show that she told him, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
“Got it,” Wildstein wrote back.
Baroni and Kelly were slapped with multiple counts, including conspiring to misuse property of an organization receiving federal benefits and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“I will fight relentlessly to clear myself from these charges,” Kelly said Friday, NJ.com reported.
Baroni’s attorney, Michael Baldassare, on Friday said: “David Wildstein is a criminal and a liar.”