CNN
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Former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez could face more than a decade in prison when he is sentenced Wednesday for taking cash, a Mercedes Benz and gold bars as bribes in exchange for helping three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.
Menendez was convicted in July of 16 felony counts for the long-running corruption scheme following a nine-week trial. He became the first US senator charged and convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government. Dozens of witnesses testified, including one of the businessmen involved in the scheme.
His sentencing marks a dramatic fall for the lawmaker born to Cuban emigres who got his start in politics in Union City, New Jersey. Menendez beat one federal indictment on bribery charges in 2018 and became one of the most powerful senators as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – a position he gave up after he was charged in the current bribery scheme in 2023.
Prosecutors with the US attorney’s office in Manhattan have asked Judge Sidney Stein to sentence the former New Jersey senator to “at least 15 years” in prison and order him to pay millions of dollars in forfeiture and fines “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of public trust.”
“Menendez’s conduct may be the most serious for which a U.S. Senator has been convicted in the history of the Republic,” prosecutors wrote. The US Probation Office recommends a sentence of 12 years in prison.
The 71-year-old lawmaker, who had adamantly maintained his innocence, has submitted more than 100 letters of support, including from the former president of Cyprus, local New Jersey politicians, religious figures, and constituents. His lawyers are asking for no prison and at least two years of “rigorous community service.”
“We respectfully submit that, notwithstanding his conviction, Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence,” his lawyers wrote to the judge. “Until this conviction marred his reputation, his career and life has been celebrated mainly for his work on behalf of the powerless and downtrodden,” they added.
His lawyers asked the judge to allow Menendez to stay out of prison as he appeals his conviction.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence that during a search of the senator’s home FBI agents found gold bars and envelopes stuffed with cash, some inside shoes and in a jacket pocket bearing the Senator’s name.
In exchange, prosecutors alleged that Menendez pressured the US Department of Agriculture over a monopoly on halal meat certification that benefited one of the businessmen, he pushed through military aid to Egypt and “modulated his criticism” of the country’s human rights abuses. He also attempted to tamper with two criminal investigations tied to the other two businessmen.
The criminal trial was not the first for the former senator, who was previously indicted on corruption charges in 2015 for allegedly accepting bribes from a wealthy ophthalmologist in exchange for political favors. Following a mistrial in 2017, Menendez was acquitted on several charges in 2018 with the Department of Justice dropping those that remained.
The longtime politician was indicted in September 2023 along with his wife Nadine, but their trials were severed after she was diagnosed with cancer and began receiving treatment. Nadine Menendez has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in March.
