Christie is heading planning for Republican nominee Donald Trump's transition if he wins the presidency. He and his lawyer, Michael Baldassare, told reporters they also plan to appeal the verdict.

Defense attorneys and federal prosecutors were notified to return to the courtroom in Newark, immediately after jurors sent U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton a note saying they had ended their deliberations. Kelly and Baroni could each face a maximum of more than 100 years in prison, though it is unlikely the two would be sentenced to that much time behind bars.

The Bridgegate trial put on display the grubbiness of New Jersey politics, where World Trade Center wreckage was passed out as political favors.

But it was not clear from Wildstein's testimony whether Christie knew the bumper-to-bumper mess was manufactured for political reasons. Attorneys vowed to appeal.

"I am innocent of these charges", a smiling Baroni said. "During the trial, numerous witnesses offered testimony under oath that directly contradicts Governor Christie's public statements", said Wisniewski, who is considering a bid for governor. "Cowards. Cowards", Kelly lawyer Michael Critchley said in a thundering closing argument.

Christie in a statement after Friday's verdicts said, "I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them".

CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment and not yet gotten a response.

Two former allies of Christie were convicted Friday of shutting down lanes to the bridge in a plot to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing him in 2013. David Samson, former chairman of the Port Authority, pleaded guilty in January to using his position to coerce United Airlines to reinstate a flight from Newark airport to Columbus South Carolina, where Samson has a home. The traffic jams were aimed at retaliating against Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie's re-election, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors showed jurors numerous exchanges that Kelly and Baroni each had with Wildstein, who operated as liaison between Baroni at the Port Authority and Kelly in the governor's office. But Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein all testified Christie was informed about the lane closings either before or while they were going on. Fishman said recommendations for sentencing would be a bit higher than the 20 to 27 months for Wildstein.

In the ensuing weeks, Wildstein said, he arranged for the Port Authority to close the lanes without notifying Fort Lee or motorists.

SC investigators say a woman who had been reported missing along with her boyfriend in late August was found "chained up like a dog" inside a storage container.

Mayor Sokolich, meanwhile, called for political reform.

Ms. Kelly bowed her head and cried as the foreman slowly answered "guilty" to each of the nine counts. It went on for five mornings in a row before somebody from the NY side of the Port Authority - because this is a bi-state agency - discovered what had been going on and chose to reopen the lanes.

Sokolich's pleas went unanswered for four days - on orders from Wildstein, the defendants testified. David Wildstein, another Christie Port Authority appointee, pleaded guilty a year ago to orchestrating the scheme that has come to be known as Bridgegate, and was a cooperating witness in the case against Baroni and Kelly. In his summation, Critchley called Christie a "coward" for not testifying in court.

The six-week trial also provided a rare inside peek at the day-to-day machinations of Christie's political apparatus. Mayors got a chance to sit in the governor's box at New York Giants football games or have breakfast with Christie at his mansion.