Federal prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), arguing his crimes constitute a “long-running bribery and foreign influence scheme of rare gravity.” The sentencing recommendation was filed on Jan. 9 in Manhattan federal court.
“The Court should impose substantial sentences of imprisonment … and significant financial penalties to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
The 71-year-old Menendez was convicted in July 2024 of 16 corruption charges after a nine-week trial that made him the first U.S. senator ever convicted of abusing a committee leadership position and acting as a foreign agent while in office.
An FBI raid on Menendez’s residence in 2022 uncovered $150,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash, which prosecutors alleged came from bribes paid by three New Jersey businessmen seeking to leverage his power for their financial benefit.
Prosecutors argue Menendez corruptly promised to influence U.S. foreign relations, including attempting to pressure federal agencies to protect a monopoly granted by Egypt to one of his co-conspirators. He also allegedly tried to subvert multiple criminal proceedings by influencing the selection of New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.
“The gravity of each of these promised abuses of power is only underscored by the naked greed that motivated them,” prosecutors said.
Two businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also convicted alongside Menendez, while a third pleaded guilty and testified at trial. Prosecutors are seeking prison terms of at least 10 years for Hana and 9 years for Daibes.
“Even leaving aside their historical rarity, 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,” prosecutors wrote. “Menendez corruptly promised to influence national security, including this country’s provision of large quantities of lethal military aid. He corruptly divulged, to a foreign government, sensitive non-public information that could put at risk U.S. and foreign nationals serving at an embassy abroad.”
Defense attorneys have argued that his conviction has “rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit.” They have asked for leniency, arguing that Menendez has already faced severe personal and professional consequences.
“Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence,” the former senator’s attorneys also argued.
When Menendez was charged in fall 2023, he held the powerful position of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but was forced to step down. He ultimately resigned from his Senate seat in August 2024.
The sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29.
