Port Authority Police Superintendent Michael Fedorko, whose department has come under internal investigation over claims that conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh received a special police escort to a New York gala, has abruptly retired.

His retirement was announced on Monday by the Port Authority, effective at 5 p.m. There had been no advance notice.

Fedorko, 73, a former Marine who served as acting superintendent of New Jersey State Police under Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, had been Director of Public Safety of the Port Authority Police Department since 2009. His annual salary was $223,782.

Port Authority officials said he will be replaced by Edward Cetnar, another New Jersey State Police veteran who is currently deputy superintendent of the Port Authority police/ He will become acting superintendent.

Fedorko is the second high-level Port Authority official to leave in the past two weeks. Former commissioner Caren Turner resigned after an obscenity-laced tirade caught on video during a routine police traffic stop of her daughter came to light, showing her attempting to intervene by showing her Port Authority gold badge and insisting she be addressed as "commissioner."

The powerful bi-state agency, which runs the region's major airports, the tunnels and bridges to New York and its seaport, gave no reason for Fedorko's sudden retirement. He did not return a call for comment.

But the Port Authority's inspector general has been investigating claims that Limbaugh and the U.S. Marine Corps Band received a special rush-hour police escort from the airport last month to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation's 2018 Semper Fidelis Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, according to the sources.

Limbaugh had flown into Newark from D.C. that night to fill in for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a speaker at the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation's 2018 Semper Fidelis Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, according to a transcript of his radio show.

"So they sent the superintendent of the Port Authority to Newark to meet me for lights and sirens into Manhattan to make sure I got there in time," Limbaugh said on his show the next day. "And we did. We pulled in right as the reception and cocktail period was ending at 7 and everybody was being seated..."

Sources told NJ Advance Media that the Marine Corps band was also given a lights-and-siren escort from the tarmac at Newark Liberty to Manhattan, and then back to the airport the next day. Fedorko, is listed as one of the vice presidents of the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation.

Those with knowledge of the situation say the investigation into issues raised by the reported escort involving Limbaugh "is ongoing."

In a statement, the Port Authority made no mention of the investigation. Chairman Kevin O'Toole and Executive Director Rick Cotton praised Fedorko for his role in "leading more than 1,700 uniformed officers responsible for the safety and security of travelers and tenants at all Port Authority facilities."

Fedorko served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1972, earning a Purple Heart after being wounded in action in Vietnam. He became a New Jersey State Trooper in 1969, rising to rank of lieutenant colonel before being appointed as acting superintendent under Whitman.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.