July 16 (UPI) — Jurors on Tuesday returned guilty verdicts on all 16 counts related to bribery and corruption against New Jersey’s U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who could be sentenced to decades in federal prison.
The jury of six men and six women in the federal district court in Manhattan, N.Y., rendered the guilty verdicts after two days of deliberation.
Menendez, 70, was charged with 16 counts in total for bribery, extortion and acting as an illegal foreign agent in connection to an alleged scheme to collect gold bars, cash and other bribes in exchange for catering to New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments.
His alleged partners in the scheme, businessman Wael Hana and real estate mogul Fred Daibes, face bribery and other charges.
Prosecutors allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, tried to obstruct the investigation after characterizing some of the alleged bribe payments as loans
Nadine Menendez’s trial was postponed until August because she’s recovering from breast cancer surgery. Like her husband, she has pleaded not guilty.
More than $480,000 in cash was seized from their New Jersey home during a 2022 FBI raid.
Menendez explained the cash stockpile stemmed from his family’s experience in Cuba, before he was born.
He also faced federal corruption charges in 2015, but a jury failed to reach a verdict. Charges were dropped in 2018.
The senator didn’t testify in his own defense in the latest trial.
He is the 13th sitting senator in American history to be indicted while holding office and the fourth to be indicted multiple times while serving.
Menendez, who was appointed to the seat in January 2006, stepped down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but has refused to resign.
He didn’t seek re-election in the Democratic primary this year but several weeks announced he would run as an independent.
U.S. Rep. Andy Kim won the Democratic primary.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled to determine how long Menendez will spend in federal prison. The sentence could be for several decades.
