Thu Jan 30 00:06:34 UTC 2025: ## Former Senator Menendez Sentenced to 11 Years for Bribery

**New York, NY** – Robert Menendez, a former powerful US Senator representing New Jersey, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday for bribery and corruption. The 71-year-old Democrat, once chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a prominent figure in US foreign policy, was convicted in July 2024 on 16 felony counts of acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

The charges included trading political influence for cash, gold bars, and a Mercedes-Benz. Prosecutors argued Menendez had “put his high office up for sale,” and had requested a 15-year sentence. In a tearful plea for leniency, Menendez described losing everything except his wife’s support, stating, “For someone who spent his entire life in public service, every day I’m awake is a punishment.” However, US District Judge Sidney Stein, while acknowledging Menendez’s past public service, deemed him a “corrupt politician” who had “lost his way.”

Menendez’s conviction brought an abrupt end to his 31-year career in Congress. He resigned from the Senate in August 2024, following the guilty verdict. His two co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, received sentences of seven and over eight years respectively. A trial for Menendez’s wife, Nadine, on related charges is set for March 18. The case highlights a shocking fall from grace for a once-influential figure in American politics, known for his hawkish foreign policy stances, including his opposition to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

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