The two defendants in the Bridgegtae scandal face up to two decades in federal prison on the most serious charges. But under federal sentencing guidelines, neither is expected to serve more than three years if they do not prevail on appeal.
NEWARK--Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, now each convicted on seven counts of conspiracy and fraud in connection with the Bridgegate scandal, face up to 20 years in prison when they return for sentencing in February.
But neither are likely to serve anywhere near that time, even if U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton throws the book at them, with one legal expert predicting that they may only receive a sentence of one to three years.
The reason is that judges, who have sole discretion to set punishment, follow federal sentencing guidelines--a set of rules outlining a uniform sentencing policy for those convicted of felonies and other serious crimes.
"While these defendants may face many years in prison by statute, the federal sentencing guidelines--which more accurately govern the likely sentences that they will receive--point to prison terms in the range of one to three years," said Robert Mintz, former deputy chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force of the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey and a criminal defense attorney at McCarter & English.
Defense attorney Dennis Kearney, a former Essex County assistant prosecutor who now handles government enforcement cases and white-collar defense work for Day Pitney, said federal sentencing guidelines can be a complicated and somewhat subjective method of giving a judge a range of incarceration.
Both the defense and government have to analyze each count, start at a figure, then make adjustments up or down, which he said is where subjectivity comes in.
"For first time offenders, the calculation won't come near the 20-year cap," Kearney explained, referring to the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years for the most serious charges on which both Baroni and Kelly were judged guilty. Those were the wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud counts.
But Kearney said the government's calculations will come in higher than the range calculated under the plea agreement with star witness David Wildstein, which calls for a range of 20 to 27 months.
Wildstein pleaded guilty in the case and implicated both Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, and Kelly, who served as a deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie. The three were involved in a scheme to deliberately cause traffic backups in Fort Lee at the George Washington Bridge after the mayor of the borough declined to endorse the governor for re-election.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said the sentencing range will be higher for the two because Wildstein accepted responsibility for his actions.
"They did not accept responsibility and testified falsely before the jury," Fishman told reporters.
Still, there are few cases of public officials caught in corruption cases serving very long prison terms in New Jersey.
In 2013, former Newark Deputy Mayor Ronald Salahuddin was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for conspiracy to commit extortion by using his official position to steer demolition work to a city hall insider.
Earlier this year, Joseph A. Ferriero, the once-powerful former chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, began serving a 35-month sentence for racketeering and fraud after he was convicted of including racketeering and wire fraud in connection with using his political clout to steer contracts to a company in which he held a financial interest.
Baroni and Kelly are due to return for sentencing on Feb. 21, 2017. But before that happens, lawyers for both have promised an appeal.
"Absolutely we're going to appeal," said defense attorney Michael Critchley, who represents Kelly.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.