Story highlights Two people with ties to Gov. Chris Christie face jail if convicted in the Bridgegate trial

New Jersey governor has long denied any involvement in the scandal

(CNN) Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, finally broke her silence about the so-called Bridgegate scandal that virtually paralyzed a town whose mayor was a political rival of the New Jersey governor's.

For days in September 2013, lane closures on the George Washington Bridge snarled traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan.

In a federal trial alleging a political plot behind the lane closings, Kelly testified Friday she told Christie at a meeting nearly a month before they occurred about a traffic study and the effect it would have on the town.

She said Christie signed off the traffic study, which she said was billed to her as a survey on how to speed up traffic across the bridge.

Kelly and former Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni are charged with nine criminal counts, including conspiracy and fraud, in connection with the closures. If found guilty, they could both face time in prison.

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