NEWARK, N.J. _ David Samson, the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was sentenced to a year of home confinement and four years of probation Monday, months after he admitted to forcing one of the country's largest airlines to initiate a money-losing flight from Newark to an airport in South Carolina closer to his vacation home.
The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, requires Samson to perform 3,600 hours of community service and pay a fine of $100,000.
Samson pleaded guilty in July to a federal bribery charge, admitting that in 2011 he used the flight as a bargaining chip in negotiations with United Airlines over its request for a new hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Samson, 77, a former state attorney general and close friend of Gov. Chris Christie, had faced up to two years in prison under a plea agreement with the office of U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. Samson had asked the judge for probation on the condition of community service.
In court filings, his attorneys argued that Samson's acceptance of responsibility for his crime, record of public service, lack of a prior criminal record, and declining physical and mental health warranted probation.
Prosecutors countered that such a light sentence "would send the wrong message to the public and other public servants that someone with his judgment and advantages is not incarcerated after so completely violating the public trust."
"If Samson's fall from grace resulted in a sentence of community service, then the message would be sent that the more fortunate _ who have more to lose _ should receive lighter sentences than those who have not been so privileged, talented, or lucky," prosecutors wrote to the court last week.
They also said Samson's health concerns were not unique and that the Bureau of Prisons was "equipped to care for him."
Samson will serve home confinement in South Carolina, where he has moved.
