Former senator and chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years behind bars for accepting bribes. The bribes included gold bars, cash and a luxury car in exchange for favors for Egyptian and New Jersey businessmen.
U.S. Judge Sidney Stein handed down the sentence on Wednesday, Jan. 29, in a Manhattan district court following Menendez’s conviction in July on all 16 felony counts he faced, including bribery and fraud.
He also became the first U.S. senator to be found guilty of acting as a foreign agent and resigned from Congress following his conviction.
Stein told Menendez during the sentencing, “You were successful, powerful. You stood at the apex of our political system.”
Stein added, “I don’t know what led you to commit these crimes.”
The judge ordered Menendez to surrender to authorities by June 6 to begin his prison term so that he can attend his wife Nadine Menendez’s corruption trial in March.
Following the sentencing, Menendez spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and called the trial politically motivated.
“This whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt by the Justice Department and prosecutors who were more interested in political scalps, preparing to run for political office like Damian Williams,” said Menendez.
Menendez also echoed some of President Donald Trump’s past claims about the Southern District of New York.
“Welcome to the Southern District of New York. The wild west of political prosecutions,” Menendez said. “President Trump is right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”
Menendez vowed to appeal the sentence.
Before Menendez, Stein sentenced two New Jersey businessmen connected to Menendez’s bribes. Fred Daibes was sentenced to seven years in prison, and Wael Hanna was sentenced to more than eight years behind bars.
Menendez’s defense had sought just over two years in prison for the former senator, but after the businessmen’s sentences, they requested no more than eight years in prison for Menendez.
The prosecution wanted a sentence of 15 years in prison for Menendez.
Nadine Menendez, whose trial was delayed due to a breast cancer diagnosis, is scheduled to begin her trial on March 18 in connection with her husband’s corruption charges.
She has pleaded not guilty for her alleged role in the bribery and fraud scheme.
