Ex-Christie aide sentenced to prison in ‘Bridgegate’ scandal

Bridget Anne Kelly, a onetime deputy chief of staff to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), was resentenced to 13 months in prison Wednesday for her role in the “Bridgegate” scandal, according to 1010 WINS.

Kelly became one of the central figures of the scandal when, in August of 2013, she emailed a colleague at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, writing, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Later, on Sept. 9, three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge shut down for several days. The shutdown was allegedly in retaliation for Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s (D) refusal to endorse Christie for reelection.

{mosads}“Today marks another sad day for my children in a nightmare that has robbed our family of so much,” Kelly said before her sentencing on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton.

Kelly was initially sentenced to 18 months before a federal appeals court dismissed part of the corruption case against her, according to NJ.com. Wigenton denied a request by Kelly and her attorney for home confinement, according to NJ.com. “The facts spoke through the text messages, through the testimony and through the evidence,” Wigenton said. “So many people were affected by this. That gets lost in all this.”

While Christie himself was never charged in relation to the scandal, it is widely believed to have played a major role in dampening enthusiasm for his eventual candidacy for president in 2016.

Last May, Christie compared special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into President Trump and the 2016 election to the Bridgegate probe, saying on Showtime’s “The Circus” that “You’re being followed everywhere, and screamed at and yelled at with questions … and then the issue of continuing to run the government, and keeping yourself focused and everybody else focused on the mission, which is not dealing with your crisis.”