Bob Menendez, the disgraced former New Jersey senator, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, Jan. 29, for the long-running corruption scheme that put an end to his powerful political career.
Hours earlier, co-defendants Fred Daibes and Wael Hana were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison, respectively, in addition to seven-figure fines.
Menendez, 71, was found guilty in July of 16 federal crimes relating to bribery, extortion and acting as an agent for Egypt’s government while serving as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of at least 15 years in prison, describing his crimes as “the most serious for which a U.S. senator has been convicted in the history of the republic,” according to The New York Times.
Still, Menendez’s lawyers previously asked the judge to give him minimal or no prison time, claiming he was “deserving of mercy” because of his age and prior public service.
After seeing how Menendez’s co-defendants were sentenced on Jan. 29, the defense made a last-minute amendment to their request and instead asked for an eight-year sentence.
Bob and Nadine Menendez arrive for a N.Y.C. court appearance in September 2023.
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In September 2023, then-Sen. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were each indicted on three federal counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
The 39-page indictment alleged that the couple accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes in exchange for protecting the three businessmen — Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes — and to “benefit” the government of Egypt. The bribes allegedly included “cash, gold, a luxury vehicle, and home furnishings.”
The indictment also claimed that the senator “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt,” and “improperly advised and pressured an official at the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting a business monopoly” granted to one of the businessmen, Hana, by the country of Egypt.
Menendez was further accused of trying to “disrupt a criminal investigation and prosecution undertaken by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office” into another of the businessmen, Uribe. He then allegedly recommended that President Joe Biden nominate an individual for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey whom he “believed could be influenced” to disrupt the prosecution.
In superseding indictments that dropped in the months after his initial charges, Menendez was hit with 13 additional criminal counts, one of which accused him of acting as a foreign agent of Egypt’s government.
Robert and Nadine Menendez arrive to a White House state dinner on June 22, 2023.
Ting Shen/Bloomberg/Getty
Menendez resigned from the Senate in August — despite maintaining his innocence — vacating the seat he had held since 2006. Before that, he served in the House of Representatives and in New Jersey state politics.
His wife, Nadine, has not yet been tried as she continues to undergo cancer treatments for an “advanced stage” of breast cancer. Her trial is currently scheduled to begin in March, though the date has been repeatedly pushed back.
