Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1059_e2p3.pdf
Page Number: 1

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2019 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

KELLY v. UNITED STATES ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

No. 18–1059.  Argued January 14, 2020—Decided May 7, 2020 

During  former  New  Jersey  Governor  Chris  Christie’s  2013  reelection 
campaign,  his  Deputy  Chief  of  Staff,  Bridget  Anne  Kelly,  avidly 
courted  Democratic  mayors  for  their  endorsements,  but  Fort  Lee’s 
mayor refused to back the Governor’s campaign.  Determined to pun-
ish the mayor, Kelly, Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Wil-
liam Baroni, and another Port Authority official, David Wildstein, de-
cided to reduce from three to one the number of lanes long reserved at 
the George Washington Bridge’s toll plaza for Fort Lee’s morning com-
muters.  To disguise their efforts at political retribution, Wildstein de-
vised a cover story: The lane realignment was for a traffic study.  As 
part  of  that  cover  story,  the  defendants  asked  Port  Authority  traffic
engineers to collect some numbers about the effect of the changes.  At 
the suggestion of a Port Authority manager, they also agreed to pay an
extra  toll  collector  overtime  so  that  Fort  Lee’s  one  remaining  lane 
would not be shut down if the collector on duty needed a break.  The 
lane  realignment  caused  four  days  of  gridlock  in  Fort  Lee,  and  only
ended  when  the  Port  Authority’s  Executive  Director  learned  of  the 
scheme.  Baroni and Kelly were convicted in federal court of wire fraud,
fraud on a federally funded program or entity (the Port Authority), and
conspiracy to commit each of those crimes.  The Third Circuit affirmed. 

Held: Because the scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property, 
Baroni and Kelly could not have violated the federal-program fraud or
wire fraud laws.  

The federal wire fraud statute makes it a crime to effect (with the 
use of the wires) “any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining 
money  or  property  by  means  of  false  or  fraudulent  pretenses,  repre-
sentations,  or  promises.”    18  U. S. C.  §1343.    Similarly,  the  federal-