A juror who helped convict Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly in the seven-week Bridgegate trial told NJ Advance Media Friday night Gov. Chris Christie should have been one of the defendants in the case.

Virginia Huffman, 50, of Chatham, made the explosive statement in an interview outside her home. Huffman, who had been in a news blackout throughout the trial, was finally able to look at coverage after the jury announced its verdict late Friday morning.

Gov. Chris Christie, seen here at a recent town hall meeting, should have been a defendant in the Bridgegate trial, a juror contends. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Huffman said she was "appalled" by a written statement Christie released in the hours after the verdict.

In the statement, Christie said he was "saddened" that Kelly, his former deputy chief of staff, and Baroni, a close ally and top official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, showed "a lack of respect for the appropriate role of government and for the people we serve."

Christie also reiterated he knew nothing about the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 before or during the operation, a claim contradicted at trial by several witnesses.

Huffman said she did not believe Baroni and Kelly, both 44, were scapegoats, because the term implies they were innocent. The evidence supported a verdict of guilty, she said.

But Huffman called the two "sacrificial lambs" for a larger corrupt group of government officials.

Huffman declined to discuss the deliberations in the case. She did say the trial opened her eyes to corruption at the Port Authority, saying she had been naive.

Jurors convicted Kelly and Baroni on all counts against them, including multiple charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. The charges carry a maximum 20 years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines, they are expected to spend a fraction of that time behind bars.

Both defendants have said they will appeal.

Federal prosecutors outlined for the jury how Kelly, Baroni and David Wildstein, the government's star witness, reduced the number of access lanes to the bridge from Fort Lee to punish the borough's mayor, Mark Sokolich, for his failure to endorse Christie for re-election.

Wildstein has already pleaded guilty.

Though not on trial, Christie was a key figure in the trial, with prosecution and defense witnesses alike saying he was told about the four-day lane closures before they happened and while they were happening. The closures created traffic chaos in the borough, slowing school buses and ambulances.

In his statement Friday afternoon, Christie explicitly reiterated he had no part in the plan and did not know the closures were taking place.

"But let me be clear once again, I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them," the statement read. "No believable evidence was presented to contradict that fact. Anything said to the contrary over the past six weeks in court is simply untrue.

"As a former federal prosecutor," the governor continued, "I have respected these proceedings and refused to comment on the daily testimony from the trial. I will set the record straight in the coming days regarding the lies that were told by the media and in the courtroom."

Later this month, Christie is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Bergen County in connection with a citizen complaint alleging second-degree official misconduct.

A retired Teaneck firefighter and citizen activist, Bill Brennan, alleges in the criminal complaint that Christie knew of the closures while they were happening and should have stopped them.

Last month, a presiding municipal court judge found probable cause to support the claim, allowing it to move forward.

Christie is due in court in Hackensack Nov. 23.

NJ Advance Media reporter Mark Mueller contributed to this report.

Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.