Nadine Menendez, spouse of former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), was sentenced on Sept. 11 to greater than 4 years in federal jail in a bribery case.
District Decide Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of New York sentenced her to 54 months behind bars and three years of supervised launch for working together with her husband in accepting bribes of money, gold bars, and a luxurious automobile.
Stein wished to ship a message with the sentencing.
“People have to understand there are consequences,” he mentioned.
Prosecutors requested for seven years in jail, whereas Nadine Menendez’s lawyer requested a 12 months in jail.
Nadine Menendez, who was convicted in April, sobbed whereas addressing the court docket at her sentencing and blamed her husband for what she did.
“I would never have imagined someone of his ranking putting me in this position,” she mentioned.
“The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior. He’s not the man I thought he was.”
Bob Menendez, who served in Congress for 31 years, was convicted in July 2024 of accepting greater than $400,000 in bribes from Qatar and Egypt that included gold bars, a automobile, and money. He was sentenced to 11 years behind bars in January and reported to a federal jail in Pennsylvania in June.
“Menendez, who swore an oath to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, instead put his high office up for sale in exchange for this hoard of bribes,” prosecutors wrote in a Jan. 9 court docket submitting.
“Menendez’s willingness to engage in the charged scheme immediately after receiving a formal admonition for such similar conduct speaks volumes about his character.”
Bob Menendez’s attorneys requested for a lesser sentence.
“Unsurprisingly, Sen. Menendez’s conviction has rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit,” the attorneys wrote. “Bob is now 71, together with his long-built popularity in tatters. He has suffered monetary {and professional} smash.
“His once broad circle of friends and political allies have largely disappeared. While all defendants suffer inevitable personal and professional consequences if convicted of serious federal crimes, Sen. Menendez in many important respects has already been punished relatively more harshly due to his position.”
Three New Jersey businessmen—Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, and Jose Uribe—had been additionally indicted. Hana and Daibes had been convicted, whereas Uribe pleaded responsible. Daibes was sentenced to seven years in jail, whereas Hana was sentenced to eight years. Uribe is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
“The defendants engaged, for years, in a corruption and foreign influence scheme of stunning brazenness, breadth, and duration, resulting in exceptionally grave abuses of power at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch of the United States Government,” prosecutors wrote.
Menendez resigned from the Senate in August 2024.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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