The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday to throw out both convictions in New Jersey's infamous "Bridgegate" scandal.
Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni, two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for arranging in 2013 to reshape the traffic flow of the George Washington Bridge and create gridlock in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The Supreme Court decided there was "no doubt" of "wrongdoing" in the case, but that it didn't constitute "property fraud."
Evidence in the case "no doubt shows wrongdoing — deception, corruption, abuse of power," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the unanimous opinion. But Kelly and Baroni "could not have violated the federal-program fraud or wire fraud laws" because they didn't "aim to obtain money or property," the opinion continued. "The federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct," the justices concluded in reversing a lower court's decision.
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Baroni and Kelly's scheme was intended to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie's re-election. Baroni was sentenced to 18 months in prison and started serving his term last year. Kelly was sentenced to 13 months but never ended up serving any time, with the Supreme Court accepting her appeal just two weeks before she was due to report.
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