Todd South, and Paul Berger

NorthJersey

David Samson, the former Port Authority chairman and longtime confidant of Gov. Chris Christie, was sentenced to four years' probation, including a year of home confinement, on Monday after his conviction on federal bribery charges for abusing his position to pressure United Airlines to provide a route that would make it easier for him to fly to his vacation home in South Carolina.

Samson, 77, will also be required to perform 3,600 hours of community service and pay a $100,000 fine. He will serve out his sentence in the vacation home that sparked the controversy.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in July and, in a non-prosecution agreement, United Airlines agreed to cooperate with the investigation, make reforms to its compliance program and pay a penalty of $2.25 million.

Samson faced up to two years in prison under the plea agreement he made with federal prosecutors.

Before he was sentenced, he spoke briefly, apologizing to the court, his family and friends, and the public.

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"I did something wrong, I violated the law. I deeply regret it," Samson told U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares.

The judge summed up the core of Samson's violation as he issued the sentence: “He was able, through his position of power, to intimidate to some extent the airline to do something that they did not want to do."

In 2011, United wanted to build a maintenance hangar for its wide-body aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport. Samson delayed the agency from making a decision on that project until the airline agreed to reinstate the money-losing flight to an airport close to Samson's second home in South Carolina.

The flight left Newark on a Thursday and returned from Aiken on a Monday morning.

Linares further emphasized Samson's career as a lawyer and former state attorney general, saying he was someone who knew the law and knew the consequences of what he was doing.

"This crime was ridiculous, it was a complete abuse of power, it was corruption and not to be tolerated," Linares said.

Prosecutors accused Samson of using his position as chairman of the multibillion-dollar agency to hold United hostage.

"Mr. Samson didn't just cross the line between right and wrong, he leaped over it and cleared it by a wide margin," Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said at the hearing. "It was, quite frankly, one of the most audacious acts of corruption we’ve ever encountered."

Khanna called the scheme "classic New Jersey corruption" and told the judge that probation for a former public official of Samson's stature would be "interpreted as a mere slap on the wrist."

One of Samson's attorneys, Michael Chertoff, the former director of U.S. Homeland Security, in the hearing characterized his client's crime as an "outlier" among corruption cases and less about greed than about a "test of wills" between Samson and top executives at United.

Chertoff argued that Samson's advanced age and his need for medical care -- he suffers from essential tremors and has had prostate cancer -- should be considered in his sentencing.

Following the sentencing, one of his attorneys, Justin P. Walder, said in a written statement that the sentence was "fair and just" and that Samson's crime was an "error in judgment."

Speaking outside the courthouse, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said that although the sentence sent a message that such behavior would not be tolerated, he was unhappy with the outcome.

He pointed to the irony that Samson’s sentence will confine him to the tony vacation home in South Carolina that served as the inspiration for the flight scheme in the first place.

“I don’t think it’s enough deterrence, obviously,” Fishman said. “But I respect the court’s decision.”

Christie weighed in on the outcome in a brief statement following the hearing.

“This is a sad day for David and his family and friends," Christie said. "The court has ruled and this chapter is now behind us. David will now pay the price for his bad judgment.”

As part of their investigation, federal investigators uncovered text messages and emails between United employees, Samson and Jamie Fox, a lobbyist for United who died last month.

“I hope they dance to my tune,” Samson wrote in a Sept. 28, 2011 email to Fox, which referred to his attempts to have United restart the flight, which he came to refer to as the “chairman’s flight.”

“Let me know if there’s a way to keep the pressure on this issue: it will save me a lot of heartache,” Samson wrote.

Agents uncovered the bribery scheme as part of their investigation into the 2013 lane closure scandal at the George Washington Bridge, which caused five mornings of gridlock for North Jersey commuters.

While serving as chairman of the Port Authority from 2011 to 2014, Samson oversaw the agency, which is responsible for running the region’s major seaports, airports, tunnels and bridges.

When he pleaded guilty, Samson admitted that he used his position as chairman to pressure the airline to reinstate the flight that had previously been run by Continental Airlines before it merged with United in 2010.

He discussed the flight with Fox and senior United employees at a dinner meeting in New York City in 2011, telling them that the route had made his trips to his Aiken, S.C., home much more convenient.

United later agreed to run the flight, which lost the company money. Samson admitted he used the flight at least 27 times between October 2012 and January 2014.

The existence of the “chairman’s flight” was first reported by The Record.

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Three United executives, including United CEO Jeff Smisek, resigned in 2013 as a result of an internal investigation by the company. Smisek met with Christie and Samson during the governor’s 2013 reelection campaign.

Samson is one of five former Christie allies charged with federal crimes related to the Port Authority. The former deputy executive director of the agency, Bill Baroni, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, were convicted on fraud charges last year related to the George Washington Bridge lane closures. They are scheduled for sentencing next week.

David Wildstein, another Christie appointee at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty to his role in the closure scandal and testified against Baroni and Kelly during their trial.

Fox, who faced bribery charges for his involvement in the case, died last month at age 62 of kidney disease. Fox maintained his innocence.

On the Web

Watch video from the sentencing press conference and see photos. Visit njersy.co/samsonsentencing.