By Allan Lengel
Disgraced Ex-U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez on Wednesday was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 11 years in prison for operating an international corruption scheme that netted nearly $1 million in bribes in cash, checks, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz.
Last year, a Manhattan federal jury found the New Jersey Democrat guilty on all 16 counts. The conviction resulted in Menendez, who turned 71 earlier this month, resigning after nearly 18 years in the Senate.
“The sentences imposed today result from an egregious abuse of power at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch of the federal government,” New York U.S. Attorney Danielle r. Sassoon said in a statement. “Robert Menendez was trusted to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, but instead he used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes like cash, gold, and a luxury car. ”
Specifically, a grand jury charged that between 2018 and 2022, Sen. Menendez and his wife engaged in a corrupt relationship with New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, who collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value. At the time, he was serving as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In exchange, the senator used his powerful position to secretly benefit businessmen and the Egyptian government by providing sensitive information and helping in other matters. One charge alleged he was acting as a foreign agent for Egypt from 2018 to 2022.
Hana, 40, and Daibes, 66, who were also on trial with the senator, were found guilty as well. Daibes was sentenced Wednesday to 7 years and 2 months in prison and fined $1.75 million. Hana was sentenced to 8 years and 1 month in prison and fined $1.25 million.
Nadine Menendez faces trial later this year.
The New York Times reports that Menendez’s sister and both of his children — Alicia Menendez, an anchor on the news network MSNBC, and Representative Rob Menendez, a Democrat serving his second term in Congress, sat directly behind him in the gallery during sentencing.
