Former US Senator Bob Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, January 29. Menendez was convicted on all 16 felony counts of corruption and bribery in July 2024, in the Southern District of New York. Among the charges, Menendez took bribes and gifts from Egyptian authorities. The trial took place in Manhattan, New York City.
“I have lost everything,” the disgraced former US Senator pleaded with District Judge Sidney Stein before he was sentenced. “For a man who spent his entire life in public service, every day I am awake is punishment.”
But Judge Stein was firm. “Somewhere along the way you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” he said.
Menendez was once the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one which is considerably powerful. He took the payoffs while in this position. He resigned in July following the conviction.
“Gold Bar Bob”
A jury convicted Menendez on these charges in July of 2024. His charges included bribery, acting as a foreign agent (Egypt), obstruction of justice, extortion, and conspiracy. Two businessmen were also charged in the scheme, developer Fred Daibes and Egyptian-American Will Hana. Both men were also found guilty and sentenced to 7 and 8 years, respectively.
Bob Menendez first went to the US Senate in 2006. He had been indicted on similar charges in 2015, ending with a mistrial in 2017. Menendez and his wife Nadine caught investigators’ eyes after receiving gifts from a New Jersey halal meat company, IS EG Halal. The company won an exclusive contract with Egypt’s government to certify halal meat exported worldwide.
The indictment alleged that Menendez and his wife received “cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other items of value.” Those gold bars were found in his home, totaling $150,000. He has received the derisive nickname, “Gold Bar Bob” as a result.
Delayed Prison Stay
Menendez and his co-conspirators will not have to report to prison immediately. His wife Nadine’s trial is scheduled for March of this year, 2025, and Bob will be allowed to remain free until June. Prosecutors gave third co-conspirator Jose Uribe a plea deal that saw him testify against Menendez.
Menendez and the two other co-conspirators are expected to appeal the conviction and sentencing.
Despite his somber tone in the courtroom, Menendez was defiant upon leaving. He called the charges, evidence, and sentencing “Outrageous”. He also asked US President Donald Trump to pardon him. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden did not pardon Menendez.