David Samson, former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, pleaded guilty to the so-called “chairman’s flight” scandal. Picture: AP/Seth Wenig

The former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey lived and worked in Newark, New Jersey. But his weekend home was in the affluent town of Aiken, South Carolina.

Samson’s problem was when he wanted to travel to his weekend home, the best flying route would only take him to Charlotte, North Carolina — about a two-hour drive away from Aiken.

And he was not going to put up with that commute.

So what did Samson, the then-head of one of America’s most powerful transport agencies, do about it? He pressured United Airlines into operating an expensive commercial route to an airport that was half the driving distance to Aiken, that’s what.

The court heard Samson pressured United Airlines to reinstate this costly route from Newark, New Jersey to Columbia, South Carolina. Picture: Google MapsSource:Supplied

Samson, 77, has been sentenced by a US district court judge to four months’ probation and a year’s home confinement for coercing United to reinstate the money-losing, twice-weekly route to Columbia, South Carolina.

The route, dubbed “the chairman’s flight”, cut Samson’s drive by about an hour.

Samson, a longtime mentor to New Jersey governor Chris Christie, pleaded guilty last year to the backroom deal, which prosecutors described as “an outrageous abuse of power”.

The court heard Samson began to lobby for the more convenient flight route almost as soon as he became Port Authority chairman in 2011, according to the Associated Press.

United agreed to revive the flight at a time it was seeking a deal with the Port Authority for a new hangar at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport.

“He wasn’t lobbying United for something New Jersey residents were clamouring for or something the Port Authority needed,” Assistant US Attorney Vikas Khanna told the court.

“He asked one of the world’s largest airlines to create a flight route just for him.”

The drive between Aiken and Columbia Airport was about an hour shorter. Picture: Google MapsSource:Supplied

Samson wanted to avoid the lengthy drive between Charlotte, North Carolina and Aiken, South Carolina. Picture: Google MapsSource:Supplied

United Airlines was fined more than $2 million (A$2.6 million) over the scheme and then-chief executive Jeff Smisek and two other high-ranking United officials were forced out.

United dropped the flight route after Samson resigned in early 2014.

Samson could have faced two years in prison over the bribery scandal. According to AP, many in the courtroom “sat stunned” on Monday when Samson was escaped jail and was instead sentenced to four years’ probation and one year’s home confinement in the very Aiken residence that proved his downfall.

He was also sentenced to 3600 hours of community service and issued a $100,000 (A$132,000) fine.

US District Judge Jose Linares said he’d received many letters from high-ranking public officials in support of Samson — who had a 50-year career as a lawyer and also served as attorney general — which swayed him towards the lighter sentence.

The judge said Samson’s crime was “a complete abuse of power” with details that “befuddle the mind”, but Samson was “entitled to some credit for a lifetime of good work and public service”.

He said the damage to his reputation “affected people like Mr Samson very severely”.

David Samson, centre, offered an apology to the court. Picture: AP/Seth WenigSource:AP

In brief comments to the judge, Samson said: “I know I violated the law and violated my own standards of right and wrong. I deeply apologise.

“First and foremost to this court, and I apologise to my family and friends and I apologise to the public to whom I owed much better.”

US Attorney Paul Fishman said he was “obviously unhappy” with the sentence, adding: “The message we wanted to send to the public is when people abuse the public trust they’re going to be punished appropriately,” he said.

The Port Authority oversees billions of dollars in assets and revenues, and it operates the New York area’s major airports, bridges, tunnels, ports and the World Trade Center.

The chairman’s flight scandal was exposed after the 2013 “Bridgegate” incident that resulted in the criminal conviction of two former Port Authority officials.

In the Bridgegate incident, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal, staffers and political appointees of Governor Christie closed lanes on the upper level of the bridge to engineer a massive traffic jam.

Christie’s reputation was badly damaged in light of the scandal. Samson wasn’t charged in relation to it, though the admitted mastermind of the plot testified Samson knew about the plans before they were put into action, according to AP.