David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and longtime ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is expected to plead guilty to unspecified charges today for the closing of several lanes of the George Washington Bridge in 2013, the New York Times reports.

Paul J. Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, is expected to make an announcement Friday morning in regard to a 16-month investigation into the Bridgegate scandal. As the Times and Wall Street Journal note, Wildstein’s suspected plea will be scrutinized for any implication of Christie’s involvement or prior knowledge of the lane closures and ensuing traffic delays.“At [Wildstein’s] Montville home,” NJ.com reports, “a white SUV could be seen leaving at 5 a.m. and moving down the street at high speed.”

The closing of toll lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 for four days—effectively gridlocking the city of Fort Lee, NJ—was allegedly carried out by Christie allies as suspected political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, reneged on a promise to endorse Christie in his re-election campaign.

And while Christie and his staff at first claimed the debacle was a “traffic study,” emails and text messages released by a New Jersey legislative committee in January 2014 implicated Wildstein and Christie’s then deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, as having concocted a scheme to cause the traffic jam. Wildstein had resigned from his post as the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority a month before the emails were released; Christie fired Kelly soon after.

The federal investigation has extended to other members of Christie’s rank and file, the Times reports, including David Samson, the former Port Authority chairman who allegedly strong-armed United Airlines into reinstating “a flight to an airport near his weekend home in South Carolina” and used his clout to steer business to his law firm, Wolff & Samson. Fishman, the Times reports, is also expected to announce additional indictments today.

Update 2, 12:20 p.m.: Wildstein officially plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and “conspiracy against civil rights.” Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the New York Times reports, are both expected to be indicted.

Update, 11:51 a.m.:

[Image via AP]