Prosecutors seek 15-year prison sentence for Menendez after bribery conviction

Source: PBS News Hour/AP

Jan 10, 2025 6:25 PM EST


NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez should be imprisoned for 15 years for a “grave abuse of his power,” after the New Jersey Democrat became the first person to be convicted of abusing a Senate committee leadership position and the first U.S. public official to be convicted of serving as a foreign agent.

In papers filed late Thursday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors called for the lengthy prison term for the 71-year-old Menendez when he is sentenced on Jan. 29.

Menendez was convicted in July of 16 corruption charges brought after an FBI raid on his home in 2022 turned up $150,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash, much of which prosecutors alleged was the result of bribes paid by three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator to use his power to protect their interests and make them money.

When he was charged in the fall of 2023, Menendez was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was forced out of that position that year and gave up his Senate seat last August. In presentence arguments last week, defense lawyers called for Judge Sidney H. Stein to be lenient, saying Menendez’s conviction had “rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit.”

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/prosecutors-seek-15-year-prison-sentence-for-menendez-after-bribery-conviction