Former Senator Bob Menendez has been sentenced to prison for accepting bribes in exchange for performing favors for businessmen with ties to Egypt and Qatar. Prosecutors argued that Menendez's crimes constituted an attempt to corrupt the nation's core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement. Menendez's lawyers appealed for leniency, citing his age, the penalties already imposed, and the lack of a compelling need for a custodial sentence.
behind bars for Menendez, 71, who was convicted on more than a dozen political corruption charges last summer after a jury found he accepted bribes to perform professional favors for businessmen with ties to Egypt and Qatar.
“The defendants’ crimes amount to an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch, to corrupt the nation’s core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing argument.on all 16 charges he faced, countered that their client was “deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein told Menendez he’d gone down an dishonorable path.Stein opted not to impose a financial penalty on Menendez, noting that he would not have the means to pay one.for leniency earlier this month, saying he was “stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery.” They blamed his wife, Nadine Menendez, for accepting some of the bribes. She is set to stand trial in March.
Menendez, who resigned from the Senate in August, is the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. He accepted the bribes while serving in a powerful position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ― a post that prosecutors said he grossly abused.He was initially charged in 2023 after investigators found about $480,000 in cash and about $150,000 worth of gold bars at his home.
Prosecutors also noted that Menendez regularly promoted the aims of the Egyptian government, including by pushing his colleagues to support Egypt’s opposition to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.The next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won't back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism.You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again.
BOB MENENDEZ CORRUPTION SENTENCE BRIBES FOREIGN RELATIONS
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