2 in bridge case plead innocent

Not part of N.J. plot, they say

NEWARK, N.J. -- Two former allies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pleaded innocent to charges that they plotted traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge to punish a mayor for not backing Christie's re-election in 2013.

Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the former Port Authority deputy executive director, entered their pleas Monday in federal court in Newark. Another former Port Authority official, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty Friday and helped prosecutors build a case against Kelly and Baroni.

Kelly's lawyer, Michael Critchley, said after the hearing that the trial, now tentatively set for July 7, is likely to delve into the operations of the governor's office.

He refused to rule out the possibility that he'd call Christie, a Republican weighing a run for the White House in 2016, as a witness.

"If the government does not call many of the people who were Bridget Kelly's former colleagues, you can rest assured that we will be subpoenaing them," Critchley said outside the courthouse. "We want a full airing of the facts involving everyone that was involved."

Kelly, 42, and Baroni, 43, didn't speak at the brief hearing Monday and entered innocent pleas through their lawyers.

U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton released the pair on $150,000 bonds.

"I would never risk my career, my job, my reputation for something like this," Baroni, a former Republican state senator, said outside court. "I am an innocent man."

It was also announced Monday that Baroni has left his position as counsel to the law firm of Hill Wallack.

Robert Bacso, the firm's managing partner, issued a statement saying Baroni left "in order to totally focus his efforts on his defense and the vindication of his reputation."

In his guilty plea Friday, Wildstein admitted that the trio plotted to close two local access lanes during the first week of school in September 2013 to maximize gridlock in Fort Lee, where Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, didn't endorse Christie.

The three then concocted a cover story to say the lane closures were part of a traffic study, prosecutors said.

Wildstein admitted to directing the lane closings without notice to anyone in Fort Lee.

The move made people late for work and school, delayed emergency responders and left Sokolich baffled and infuriated.

When he asked for an explanation, the mayor was met with "radio silence," Wildstein said.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said Friday, when the indictment was unsealed, that he didn't intend to bring additional charges over the lane closures.

The traffic snarls ended only when Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, ordered them reopened on the fifth day.

Kelly and Baroni are charged with conspiring to misuse property of an organization receiving federal benefits, misapplying property of such an organization, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to deprive residents of their civil rights, deprivation of civil rights and wire fraud.

Baroni has said he believed that the traffic study was legitimate, and lawyers for Baroni and Kelly called Wildstein a liar.

Outside court, Critchley said Wildstein was a "flawed narrator" and that Kelly has been unfairly maligned for 16 months.

Kelly, who set up a website for her legal defense, has said she's embarrassed by the "insensitive tone" of some of her emails.

The plot came to light with the publication of an email sent by Kelly a month before the closures.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," she wrote Aug. 13, 2013.

"Got it," replied Wildstein, then the interstate capital projects director at the Port Authority.

Christie appointed an outside law firm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, to investigate the lane closures.

The firm's report exonerated the governor and laid blame on Kelly and Wildstein.

In court, Critchley said he wants to know whether the firm recorded its interviews.

If so, prosecutors should turn them over in the pretrial exchange of evidence, he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Terrence Dopp of Bloomberg News and by David Porter and Jill Colvin of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/05/2015

Upcoming Events