Menendez sentenced to eleven years in prison

Former senator Bob Menendez was sentenced yesterday to eleven years in prison on charges of bribery, acting as a foreign agent and more.

The sentence followed a nine-week jury trial, where it was shown beyond a reasonable doubt that Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, accepted bribes of cash, furniture, gold bars and a car to influence his role as a member of the federal legislature and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on behalf of Egypt and other parties between 2018 and 2022.

Menendez was prosecuted and sentenced alongside Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, who were sentenced to over eight years and seven years, respectively, for bribery and conspiracy.

Menendez was introduced to Hana, a New Jersey resident with close ties to Egyptian officials, by his now-wife, Nadine Menendez. Hana was also a business associate of real estate developer Daibes, a longtime donor of Menendez, and Jose Uribe, who was involved in the New Jersey insurance and trucking industries. Menendez took bribes from all three men with the promise to use his office to advance their interests and those of foreign governments.

In exchange for bribes, Menendez leaked nonpublic US records to Egypt, including details about who was working at the US embassy in Egypt. He also ghostwrote a letter for Egypt to send to the US Senate requesting the release of a hold on $300 million in aid.

Other acts of conspiracy and bribery by Menendez included using his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to remove holds on foreign military financing and arms sales to Egypt, pressuring an official at the Department of Agriculture to maintain a monopoly for Hana and pressuring the then-New Jersey attorney general to act favorably in the prosecution of Uribe’s associate. Menendez was also charged with obstruction of justice.

Upon executing a court-authorized search warrant, the FBI searched Menendez’s New Jersey estate. They found nearly half a million dollars in cash, some of it in envelopes bearing the fingerprints of Menendez and Daibes; more than $100,000 worth of gold bars, provided by either Hana or Daibes; furniture gifted by Hana or Daibes; and a luxury convertible paid for by Uribe.

US attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said the sentence reflected “an egregious abuse of power at the highest level of the legislative branch” and that “the sentences imposed today send a clear message that attempts at any level of government to corrupt the nation’s foreign policy and the rule of law will be met with just punishment.”

Before sentencing, WHYY reported Menendez’s final plea for mercy: “Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about. Every day I’m awake is a punishment.”