The former Port Authority chairman who got swept up in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal bribery charge in a separate criminal case involving the misuse of a plane route out of Newark airport.

In a plea agreement, David Samson, a onetime political ally of Christie’s, copped to one count of soliciting a bribe for pressuring United Airlines into repeatedly flying he and his family to their weekend home in Columbia, South Carolina, to make their lives more convenient.

Samson had threatened the airline – which lost money with each flight to Columbia – promising to withhold critical funding for United Airlines unless the company got on board with his demands.

The twice-weekly direct flights from Newark to Columbia started just after Samson became PA chairman. They were canceled days after Samson resigned in March 2014 for his alleged involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Samson agreed to a maximum of two years in a federal lockup with three years post supervised release.