Bob sentenced to serve 11 years!
New York,US, Jan 29 (EFE).-
United States former Democratic Senator of New Jersey Bob Menendez was sentenced on Wednesday to 11 years in prison for corruption.
Judge Sidney Stein of the Southern District of New York found Menendez, 71, guilty of taking bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car, and briefcases full of cash when he was chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Somewhere along the way you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” Stein told Menendez before handing down his sentence.
The former senator presided over an entire corruption scheme fed by the governments of Qatar and Egypt, the latter being the country of origin of his wife, Nadine, also charged in the same scheme but whose sentencing was delayed for health reasons.
An FBI agent secretly taped Nadine while she offered her services as an intermediary to a high-ranking Egyptian official.
When the FBI raided their New Jersey home in 2022, they found 13 gold bars hidden in a safe in the bedroom, as well as half a million dollars in bills scattered throughout the house, even hidden in boots or suit pockets.
Menendez, his wife and three New Jersey businessmen were indicted in the scheme in 2023 after a lengthy investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in New York. Fred Daibes received seven years in prison, while Wael Hana received just over eight years.
Prosecutors said the businessmen paid bribes to Menendez and his wife in exchange for the senator taking actions that would benefit them and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.
During the trial, Menendez begged the judge for mercy, twice breaking down in tears.
“For a man who has spent his entire life in public service, every day I wake up is a punishment,” Menendez said.
The former senator is seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump after failing to get one from his former Senate colleague, former President Joe Biden, according to US media.
A longtime member of the Democratic Party, Menendez built his career in his fiefdom of New Jersey, a state he represented as a senator from 2006 to 2024; his son, Robert Menendez, is also a Democratic congressman.
Menendez clung to his Senate seat until July 2024, when his position became untenable after a jury found him guilty of the corruption charges for which he was sentenced on Wednesday.EFE
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