Supreme Court to hear New Jersey ‘Bridgegate’ case

Clarification: The lane closures affected access to the George Washington Bridge from the town of Fort Lee, N.J.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday, June 28, that it will hear an appeal of a case involving two former New Jersey officials convicted in a scandal dubbed “Bridgegate.”

Bridget Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Chris Christie, and Bill Baroni, former deputy director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were convicted in 2016 on fraud and civil rights violation charges after they changed the traffic patterns for accessing the George Washington Bridge without notifying local officials.

Kelly and Baroni claimed they did it as part of a traffic study, but prosecutors said closing the access lanes was deliberately done to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., for not endorsing Christie. The lane changes resulted in massive traffic backups in that city. A jury found them guilty. Kelly was sentenced to 13 months in prison, and Baroni received 18 months.

According to the Associated Press, the Supreme Court is expected to hear the appeal sometime in the fall.