a BIG fish was caught today.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/former-port-...robe-1468504858The former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pleaded guilty Thursday in a long-running probe examining whether he used his office for personal gain.
David Samson, a former appointee and close political ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, has been under investigation for nearly three years by federal prosecutors for allegedly trading official actions for the resumption of a direct flight to an airport near his country home in South Carolina.
Mr. Samson pleaded guilty to a single felony bribery charge in federal court in Newark on Thursday afternoon, more than two years after he resigned as chairman as the federal investigation mounted.
sentenced to 4 years probation
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/03/06/david-samson-sentencing/NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a longtime mentor to Gov. Chris Christie, was sentenced Monday to four years of probation after admitting he pressured United Airlines to reinstate a flight route to give him easier access to his weekend home.
As CBS2’s Meg Baker reported, David Samson also once served as New Jersey attorney general. Now he is a convicted felon – but he will not spend time behind bars.
Samson pleaded guilty to bribery last year for the backroom deal, which occurred at a time when United was negotiating with the Port Authority over a new hangar it wanted to build at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“The message that we wanted to send to public is that when people abuse the public trust like Mr. Samson did in this case, that they’re to be punished appropriately,” said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Before the judge pronounced his sentence, Samson apologized to the court, his family and friends, “and to the public, to whom I owe much better.”
“I take full and complete responsibility for my actions,” he added.
The judge also sentenced Samson to home confinement for one year and 3,600 hours of community service. Samson must also wear a monitoring device and pay a $100,000 fine.
Samson had faced up to two years in prison.
