U.S. Senator Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery and corruption

Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a U.S. district court for a long-term bribery and corruption scheme for which he received stacks of cash and gold bars, UNN reports citing Voice of America.

Details

Menendez, who was once one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, was convicted after being found guilty of bribery that lasted for many years and involved representatives of other countries.

The courtroom was reportedly packed, but silence reigned as the judge handed down one of the longest sentences ever handed down to a federal politician in the United States.

Menendez pleaded with U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein for clemency, crying twice and emphasizing that he had "spent my entire life in public service.

"I've lost everything," said the New Jersey Democrat, who was chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was forced to resign after the indictment.

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The judge seemed unfazed and said that while he had done some positive work, the evidence against him was "overwhelming" and he had betrayed the voters of New Jersey.

"You were successful, you were strong, you stood at the top of our political system," Judge Sidney Stein said before handing down the sentence. - "But somewhere along the way - I don't know where it was - you went off the rails.

"Working for the public good has become working for your good," he added.

"Somewhere along the way, unfortunately, you became a corrupt politician," Stein told him before the sentencing.

Prosecutors demanded that Menendez be sentenced to 15 years. The former senator's lawyers called this demand "vindictive and cruel," as well as a "life and death sentence" for the 71-year-old man.

Menendez's lawyers asked the court to release him from prison, noting that he resigned from the Senate in August and "has suffered extreme public disgrace and turmoil, and his finances and reputation have been destroyed, probably for the rest of his life," and that this is sufficient punishment.

They also emphasized that his name would be covered in shame because he was "the first politician in history to be convicted of being a foreign agent.

Addendum

In July, Menendez was found guilty of extortion, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent after a sensational trial in which prosecutors accused him of accepting bribes, including cash and gold bars, from people acting on behalf of the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

Two co-defendants - businessmen Wael Gana and Fred Daibes - were also found guilty and sentenced on Wednesday to several years in prison.

Menendez pleaded not guilty and promised to appeal the verdict. He also sought a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump after failing to get a pardon from his former Senate colleague, former President Joe Biden, NBC News reported.

In 2023, after a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, Menendez, his wife Nadine, and three New Jersey businessmen were indicted in a scheme in which the businessmen bribed Menendez and his wife in exchange for the senator acting in favor of the businessmen and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.

According to prosecutors, these bribes included gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz car given to Nadine Menendez, and more than $480,000 in cash that the FBI found in closets, jackets with Menendez's name on them, and other clothing during a search of his New Jersey home in 2022.

Menendez's 57-year-old wife, Nadine, was to be tried alongside her husband, but the trial was postponed by the judge after her lawyers said she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Her trial is scheduled for March 18. She was not present at her husband's trial and is pleading not guilty.

The fourth defendant, businessman Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty last year and became the main witness against the senator at the trial. He is to be sentenced in April.