FILE - This combination of March 29, 2017, file photos shows Bridget Kelly, left, leaving federal court after sentencing in Newark, N.J., and Bill Baroni leaving federal court after sentencing in Newark. A federal a...FILE - This combination of March 29, 2017, file photos shows Bridget Kelly, left, leaving federal court after sentencing in Newark, N.J., and Bill Baroni leaving federal court after sentencing in Newark. A federal appeals court has thrown out some of the convictions against two former aides to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal. Kelly and Baroni were convicted in 2016 in the alleged plot to cause traffic jams to punish a mayor for not endorsing Christie’s re-election bid. The court Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018 threw out a count of civil rights conspiracy for each defendant. It upheld convictions for wire fraud and misapplying property of an organization receiving federal funds. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)MORE LESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has thrown out the convictions of two people involved in New Jersey’s “Bridgegate” scandal.
The court said in a unanimous decision Thursday that the government had overreached in prosecuting Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni for their roles in creating a massive traffic jam to punish a New Jersey mayor who refused to endorse the reelection of then-Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for scheming in 2013 to change the traffic flow onto the George Washington Bridge between New York City and New Jersey to artificially create gridlock in New Jersey’s Fort Lee. The traffic change came after Fort Lee’s mayor, a Democrat, declined to endorse Christie.
