Former Sen. Bob Menendez to be sentenced Wednesday for corruption and bribery scheme

Former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez could face more than a decade in prison when he is sentenced Wednesday for taking cash, a Mercedes Benz and gold bars as bribes in exchange for helping three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.

Menendez was convicted in July of 16 felony counts for the long-running corruption scheme following a nine-week trial. He became the first US senator charged and convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government. Dozens of witnesses testified, including one of the businessmen involved in the scheme.

His sentencing marks a dramatic fall for the lawmaker born to Cuban emigres who got his start in politics in Union City, New Jersey. Menendez beat one federal indictment on bribery charges in 2018 and became one of the most powerful senators as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – a position he gave up after he was charged in the current bribery scheme in 2023.

“You have before you a chastened man,” Menendez said in court, his voice breaking, before being sentenced.

Adam Fee, Menendez’s attorney, argued in court that the former senator deserved credit for his decades in public service.

“For nearly 50 years he’s been tireless servant of his community, his state and his country,” Fee said. “Despite his decades of service he is known more widely as ‘Gold Bar Bob.’”

Two of the gold bars found at Menendez’s house during a court-authorized search of the home.

US District Court Southern District of New York

During the trial, the jury heard evidence that during a search of the senator’s home FBI agents found gold bars and envelopes stuffed with cash, some inside shoes and in a jacket pocket bearing the senator’s name.

In exchange, prosecutors alleged that Menendez pressured the US Department of Agriculture over a monopoly on halal meat certification that benefited one of the businessmen, he pushed through military aid to Egypt and “modulated his criticism” of the country’s human rights abuses. He also attempted to tamper with two criminal investigations tied to the other two businessmen.

Two others involved were also sentenced Wednesday. Real estate developer Fred Daibes was sentenced to seven years in prison while Wael Hana, who runs a halal certification business, received a sentence of eight years. Jose Uribe, who pleaded guilty and testified at trial against the three men, will be sentenced later this year.

Prosecutors with the US attorney’s office in Manhattan have asked Judge Sidney Stein to sentence the former New Jersey senator to “at least 15 years” in prison and order him to pay millions of dollars in forfeiture and fines “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of public trust.”

“Menendez’s conduct may be the most serious for which a U.S. Senator has been convicted in the history of the Republic,” prosecutors wrote. The US Probation Office recommends a sentence of 12 years in prison…