The former deputy chief of staff to ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for her role in the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal. Bridget Anne Kelly, a former top Christie aide, infamously wrote in an email to a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” implicating herself in the scandal. The bizarre scheme entailed vengeful lane closures on the George Washington Bridge as political retribution against the local mayor. The intentional closing of three lanes over five days caused severe traffic jams. According to prosecutors, the plan was intended to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for declining to endorse the governor for re-election.

Christie has never been charged in the scandal, and remains largely unscathed. Kelly has been less fortunate. Before her sentencing on Wednesday, she delivered a plea for leniency through tears. “Today marks another sad day for my children in a nightmare that has robbed our family...” Kelly said. After her sentencing, Kelly called Christie a “coward” who orchestrated the scheme. “I was silenced and I was intimidated. I remain as steadfast for the truth as the day this all began,” Kelly said. “The fact that I am here in place of... the governor himself... only proves that justice is not blind...it picks winners and losers.”