Christie mentor avoids prison time in United bribery scandal
Source: Associated Press
Christie mentor avoids prison time in United bribery scandal
David Porter, Associated Press Updated 4:54 pm, Monday, March 6, 2017
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The former head of one of the nation's most powerful transportation agencies and a longtime mentor to Gov. Chris Christie was sentenced Monday to four years' probation and home confinement for pressuring United Airlines to reinstate a money-losing flight route to give him easier access to his weekend home.
Many in the courtroom sat stunned as U.S. District Judge Jose Linaresimposed a sentence that will allow David Samson, former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to serve his year of home confinement likely at the South Carolina residence that was the object of the scheme that landed him in court.
Samson, 77, who pleaded guilty to bribery last year for the backroom deal, could have faced as much as two years behind bars under his plea agreement. He and Christie have been close for years, and he headed Christie's transition team after Christie's 2009 election. Christie appointed him to the Port Authority in 2011.
Linares told the packed courtroom that the volume of letters he received from high-ranking public officials in support of Samson — including from former Gov. Jim McGreevey and three former state attorneys general — helped sway him to impose the lighter sentence.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Christie-mentor-set-for-sentencing-in-United-10979345.php
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