New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday said it's not his "role to pass sentence" on a former staffer and one of his appointees for their involvement in the Bridge-gate scandal.
"The judge will do what the judge believes appropriate," the governor told NBC's "Today" show. "It's not my role or anybody else's role to pass sentence on people."
A federal judge in Newark will sentence Christie's former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, a former Port Authority executive and Christie appointee on charges of creating stoppages on the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in 2013, NJ.com reports.
The traffic jams were done to punish a Democratic mayor who would not endorse Christie's reelection bid. The governor maintained he did not know about the lane closings on the bridge until months after they happened, and was never charged in the scandal.
Both Kelly and Baroni pleaded not guilty and are seeking probation, but the U.S. attorney's office on Monday, during a pre-sentencing hearing, asked that Kelly and Baroni face sentences "at the bottom or modestly below" federal guidelines that would put them in prison for 37 and 46 months.
Another former Port Authority executive, David Wildstein, already pleaded guilty and could face 21 to 27 months behind bars. He testified against Kelly and Baroni.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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