top of page

Welcome to Crime and Justice News

Former Senator Bob Menendez Sentenced 11 Years For Accepting Bribes, Acting As Agent of Egypt

Crime and Justice News

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his lawyer said he’s been mocked for as “Gold Bar Bob.” The judge delivered the sentence after Menendez tearfully addressed the court, saying he’d lost everything he cared about, except his family. The Democrat resigned last year after becoming one of only a handful of U.S. senators ever convicted while in office, the Associated Press reports. “You were successful, powerful, you stood at the apex of our political system,” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein told Mendez in a packed Manhattan courtroom. ”Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way and working for the public good became working for your good.” The ex-senator was convicted of selling his once-considerable clout for bribes worth a fortune. FBI agents who searched his house found $480,000, some of it stuffed inside boots and pockets of clothing, and gold bars worth an estimated $150,000.


Prosecutors said that in exchange for the loot, which also included a luxury car, Menendez did corrupt favors for three New Jersey businessmen. They said he tried to protect associates from criminal investigations, helped two of them in business deals with foreign powers, and also met with Egyptian intelligence officials and took steps to help that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. “What’s been the result?” Stein said. “You lost your senate seat. You lost your chairmanship and you lost your good name.” Menendez, 71, portrayed himself to the judge as a sympathetic figure, stressing his decades of public service and declaring that he was chastened by the experience. Afterward, talking to reporters with TV cameras and microphones outside, he turned defiant. Menendez, who beat a prosecution in another corruption case a decade ago, aligned himself with President Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of the judicial system, particularly in New York City The judge ordered him to report to prison June 6. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said that despite Menendez’s accomplishments, “he will be remembered for putting his own interests and financial gain ahead of the public interest.” Menendez’s successor, Democratic U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, said the sentencing is a reminder that nobody should be above the law, “no matter your title or the power you hold.”





9 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comentarios


A daily report co-sponsored by Arizona State University, Criminal Justice Journalists, and the National Criminal Justice Association

bottom of page