Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly — the two former allies to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who were sentenced to jail time last month for their role in the 2013 Bridgegate scandal — on Monday filed their intentions to appeal verdicts and sentencing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
If the appeals are unsuccessful, Baroni stands to serve two years in prison while Kelly stands to serve 18 months. In their single page notices to the court, attorneys for the defendants did not give reasons for the appeal. Monday’s court filings, however, do not come as a surprise. Immediately following sentencing last month both Baroni and Kelly said they would be appealing.
At the time of the George Washington Bridge lane closures, Baroni was serving as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority. Kelly was a Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of the governor. David Wildstein — the self-admitted mastermind in the scheme — was the Port Authority’s Director of Interstate Capital Projects. During Baroni and Kelly’s weeks-long trial last year, Wildstein served as the star witness for the prosecution. Though Wildstein pleaded guilty, he has yet to be scheduled for sentencing.
Baroni’s court filing lists both Blank Rome LLP and Baldassare & Mara, LLC as his attorneys. Kelly’s filing names Critchley, Kinum, and Denoia, LLC as her representation.
