Former US Senator, Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges.
Last July, a jury found Menendez guilty on 16 counts for accepting gifts, including gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for helping foreign governments.
Prosecutors were seeking at least a 15-year sentence, citing in court documents the “rare gravity” of the ex-senator’s crimes.Lawyers for Menendez, 71, had called for a shorter sentence paired with community service.
“Somewhere along the way, you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” US Judge Sidney Stein said before handing down Menendez’s sentence, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Before receiving his sentence, Menendez cried while addressing the courtroom. “Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he said, according to court reporters.
“Every day I’m awake is a punishment.” He then asked the judge “to temper your sword of justice with the mercy of a lifetime of duty”.
Menendez’s son, Rob Menendez, a Democratic congressman, and his daughter, MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, were seated in court behind their father.
Earlier on Wednesday, two of Menendez’s co-conspirators were sentenced in the case.
Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer who prosecutors say delivered gold and cash to the senator, was given a sentence of seven years in prison and fined $1.75m (1.4m).
Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, who prosecutors say brokered a deal between Menendez and the Egyptian government, received more than eight years in prison and was fined $1.25m.
Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said he plans to appeal the guilty verdict. The New Jersey senator, who used to lead the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned from the upper chamber in August.
The guilty verdict came after a nine-week trial, during which jurors saw evidence that Menendez accepted gifts including gold bars worth over $100,000 and more than $480,000 in cash, found by FBI agents inside Menendez’s home.
In exchange for the bribes, prosecutors said Menendez helped secure millions of dollars in US aid for Egypt. His lawyers argued the gifts did not qualify as bribes, saying prosecutors failed to prove Menendez took any actions as a result of the bribes.
The former senator was also convicted for trying to influence criminal probes involving his two co-defendants, Hana and Daibes. A third businessman involved in the case, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced later this year.
He testified against Menendez during the trial. Nadine Menendez, the ex-senator’s wife, has also been accused of acting as a participant in the scheme by shuttling messages and bribes between the three men and Egyptian officials.
Her trial was delayed so she could undergo breast cancer treatment and will begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.
