Lock Him Up!:
Robert Menendez, the once-powerful U.S. senator from New Jersey who was convicted last year of participating in a brazen scheme to trade political clout for bribes, could spend much of the rest of his life in prison after he is sentenced on Wednesday in Manhattan.
Federal prosecutors, who have described Mr. Menendez’s conduct as possibly “the most serious for which a U.S. senator has been convicted in the history of the republic,” have asked Judge Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court to impose a sentence of at least 15 years in prison.
Lawyers for Mr. Menendez, 71, citing his hardscrabble upbringing, life of service and devotion to his family, are seeking a much shorter term, of no more than 27 months, with “at least two years’ rigorous community service.”
The lawyers, Avi Weitzman and Adam Fee, also asked the judge to consider whether sparing him prison and instead sentencing him to home detention with the community service provision would best serve “the ends of justice in this case.”
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Mr. Menendez has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict. A jury found him guilty on all 16 counts he faced, including bribery, extortion, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and acting as an agent for Egypt.
He is the first U.S. senator to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign power and the seventh senator convicted of a federal crime while in office. He resigned in August.
The sentencing, scheduled for 2 p.m., comes 16 months after prosecutors unsealed charges accusing Mr. Menendez, then the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including cash, bars of gold bullion and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for his willingness to wield his power abroad and at home.
Testimony and evidence presented at trial portrayed Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, of conspiring during furtive dinners and on encrypted calls in a scheme that was largely aimed at increasing U.S. assistance to Egypt and helping three New Jersey businessmen, who were also charged in the case.
“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,” the government wrote to Judge Stein.
This week, the former senator’s lawyers, saying the case presented difficult appellate questions, asked Judge Stein to allow Mr. Menendez to remain free on bond pending his appeal.
Two of Mr. Menendez’s co-defendants — the businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes — are also to be sentenced on Wednesday. A fourth defendant, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty last year and became a star witness against the senator at trial. He is to be sentenced in April.
Ms. Menendez, 57, was to be tried with her husband, but her trial was postponed by the judge after her lawyers said she would be undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Ms. Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, is now scheduled for trial on March 18.
Robert Menendez, the once-powerful U.S. senator from New Jersey who was convicted last year of participating in a brazen scheme to trade political clout for bribes, could spend much of the rest of his life in prison after he is sentenced on Wednesday in Manhattan.
Federal prosecutors, who have described Mr. Menendez’s conduct as possibly “the most serious for which a U.S. senator has been convicted in the history of the republic,” have asked Judge Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court to impose a sentence of at least 15 years in prison.
Lawyers for Mr. Menendez, 71, citing his hardscrabble upbringing, life of service and devotion to his family, are seeking a much shorter term, of no more than 27 months, with “at least two years’ rigorous community service.”
The lawyers, Avi Weitzman and Adam Fee, also asked the judge to consider whether sparing him prison and instead sentencing him to home detention with the community service provision would best serve “the ends of justice in this case.”
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Mr. Menendez has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict. A jury found him guilty on all 16 counts he faced, including bribery, extortion, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and acting as an agent for Egypt.
He is the first U.S. senator to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign power and the seventh senator convicted of a federal crime while in office. He resigned in August.
The sentencing, scheduled for 2 p.m., comes 16 months after prosecutors unsealed charges accusing Mr. Menendez, then the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including cash, bars of gold bullion and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for his willingness to wield his power abroad and at home.
Testimony and evidence presented at trial portrayed Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, of conspiring during furtive dinners and on encrypted calls in a scheme that was largely aimed at increasing U.S. assistance to Egypt and helping three New Jersey businessmen, who were also charged in the case.
“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,” the government wrote to Judge Stein.
This week, the former senator’s lawyers, saying the case presented difficult appellate questions, asked Judge Stein to allow Mr. Menendez to remain free on bond pending his appeal.
Two of Mr. Menendez’s co-defendants — the businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes — are also to be sentenced on Wednesday. A fourth defendant, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty last year and became a star witness against the senator at trial. He is to be sentenced in April.
Ms. Menendez, 57, was to be tried with her husband, but her trial was postponed by the judge after her lawyers said she would be undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Ms. Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, is now scheduled for trial on March 18.
