WASHINGTON (WCBS 880) — The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the convictions of two central figures in the 2013 “Bridgegate” lane-closing scandal.
It’s been more than six years since traffic patterns were purposely altered on the George Washington Bridge in what prosecutors said was a plot to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who hadn’t endorsed Christie.
Bridget Kelly, the former Christie aide who sent the infamous “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email, and Bill Baroni, who was with the Port Authority at the time, claimed the bridge lanes were shut for a traffic study.
Both appealed their fraud and conspiracy convictions. Attorneys for Baroni and Kelly argued their actions were political, but not illegal.
“I just think it’s important for people to understand that I didn’t have the power to do this—ever,” Kelly told WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell after she was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
Kelly says she was scapegoated by Christie and chalked up her infamous email to a “poor chose of words and writing an email in terrible haste.”
Christie has always maintained his innocence and was never charged, but Kelly insists he knew of the scheme.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled the government overreached in prosecuting Kelly and Baroni. The court found there was no doubt "deception, corruption and abuse of power, but that does not constitute a crime."
"The key to this case was the fact that the bad conduct did not amount of a taking of property from the federal government," former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz said. "The defendants here did not gain any money or any property by their illegal actions and as a result it did not meet what the statutes say is a federal crime in this case."
In an interview Thursday with Haskell, Kelly said the court's ruling "ends a really ugly chapter" in what has been a "very long nightmare."
"It's the ending for a nightmare that was hard to wake up from," Kelly said, adding that her family, especially her children, are relieved and elated.
She feels the decision is just.
"What I did wrong was I didn't ask enough questions," Kelly said.
Throughout the ordeal she remained optimisitc.
"The likelihood of the USSC taking my case was so slim, they get 10,000 requests a year and they take 75 so the fact that they took my case, I thought that was pretty good," Kelly said. "I was optimistic cause I thought it was the right thing to do, but now I'm really happy and honored that they took the case and voted uanimously."
Bloomberg's Supreme Court reporter Greg Stohr tells WCBS 880's Lynda Lopez that Kelly and Baroni are now legally exonerated and don't have to worry about prison time.
Baroni served some prison time but was released on bail when the court agreed to hear the case.
"With this if it hadn't gone in our favor I'm not sure with COVID what would have happened and now I don't need to know. May I never have to worry about that again," said Kelly, who found out the court was taking the case just 11 days before she was scheduled to go to prison.
Baroni said, "I am thankful for the Supreme Court of the United States for this clear statement of my innocence. After years of investigations, indictments, trials, appeals and even prison, today the Court has vindicated me and has made clear that I committed no crime."
“The Supreme Court’s decision speaks for itself, and we are bound by that decision. Beyond that, we have no comment,” said Mark E. Coyne, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Experts have said the decision could have a far-reaching impact on how public corruption investigations are handled.