Bill Baroni

William E. Baroni Jr. (born December 10, 1971) is an American Republican Party politician and law professor. He represented the 14th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. In 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named Baroni to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
He resigned from his position at the Port Authority on December 12, 2013, during the inquiry into the Fort Lee lane closure controversy. Baroni was convicted on seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud in relation to his involvement in the closure and sentenced to two years of imprisonment and 500 hours of community service, later reduced to 18 months. On May 7, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction in "Kelly v. United States".
Early life.
Baroni was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Steinert High School in Hamilton Township. He received a B.A. from George Washington University in history and was awarded a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Career.
Early career.
Baroni became interested in politics as a teenager, working on the campaign of his hometown US representative, Christopher H. Smith (R), who was seeking re-election to his fourth term. He was also a driver for Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian in his campaign for US Senator against Frank Lautenberg in 1994 and worked on the advance staff for the 1996 presidential campaign of Steve Forbes.
He served on the Mercer County Community College Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2003. He was a member of the Hamilton Township Planning Board from 1998 to 2000.
In 2003, Baroni mounted an aggressive campaign for the General Assembly, knocking on over 10,000 doors to defeat the Democratic incumbent Gary Guear. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 2005. In 2004 and 2005, he was the Assembly's Assistant Parliamentarian.
On November 6, 2007, he won election to become State Senator of the 14th Legislative District. He captured 62.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic Party opponent Seema Singh. Baroni filled the State Senate seat vacated by Republican Senator Peter Inverso.
There had been speculation that Baroni would seek the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 2008 against Frank Lautenberg, but his run for the New Jersey Senate effectively ended that speculation.
In 2008, Baroni served as State Chairman of John McCain's presidential campaign in New Jersey. Baroni served in the Senate on the Joint Committee on the Public Schools, the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, the Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee and the Judiciary Committee. He was also the only Republican state senator who voted for a 2010 measure to allow same-sex marriage in New Jersey. He supports same sex marriage in Ireland, of which he is also a citizen.
Legal career.
Baroni was an associate at DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, and then at Blank Rome. He was of counsel at Fornaro Francioso, a Hamilton firm. He served as chief counsel to Congressman Bob Franks in his 2000 U.S. Senate race. In 2002, when U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli withdrew his candidacy for re-election five weeks before Election Day after the Senate admonished him on ethics charges, Baroni argued for the Republicans in the New Jersey Supreme Court against a last-minute switch of candidates to Frank Lautenberg.
In 2002, Baroni became an adjunct professor at the Seton Hall University School of Law, where he taught classes on Professional Responsibility, voting rights, legislation, and campaign finance reform. As of November 2008, he is no longer an adjunct professor at the Seton Hall University School of Law. Baroni served on the Foundation Board of both The College of New Jersey and Mercer County Community College. As of Baroni is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra and on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and on the board of trustees for Visitation Home, which builds homes for New Jersey residents with disabilities. Baroni is also a special advisor to the New Jersey Boys' State Foundation, and is a former delegate at Jersey Boys' State.
Fort Lee lane closure scandal.
On February 19, 2010, the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, announced that he was appointing Baroni to the position of Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He resigned his Senate seat to assume the new post on March 1, 2010. Tom Goodwin was selected to fill the vacant Senate seat.
Resignation.
On December 12, 2013, Christie announced that Baroni had resigned as Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. That occurred after the scandal over lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, perhaps to punish Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not supporting Christie. Later email disclosures indicated that Baroni had attempted to squelch press that the lane closures were improper.
On January 9, 2014, Baroni was named as a defendant in a federal class action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey which cited a civil conspiracy and "willful, wanton, arbitrary, and egregious official misconduct." On May 1, 2015, he was indicted on nine federal counts of conspiracy, fraud, and related charges to which he pleaded not guilty.
He contested the District Attorney's decision not to release certain documents in the discovery process to mount his defense. A continuance for the trial was granted in September 2015.
Conviction.
On November 4, 2016 the jury in the Bridgegate]] trial returned guilty verdicts on all counts against Bill Baroni and co-defendant Bridget Anne Kelly. On March 29, 2017, he was sentenced to two years in prison and 500 hours of community service.
An appeals court decision led to the dismissal of some of the charges against him. He appealed to have the remaining charges against him dismissed.<ref>