U.S. Sen. Bob Mendendez has been found guilty in a corruption trial for bribery and acting as an illegal foreign agent.
Mr. Menendez, a Democrat who was formerly head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was accused of abusing his position to enrich others, including his wife, and now potentially faces decades in prison.
Prosecutors accused the senator of accepting luxurious gifts such as gold bars, a Mercedes Benz, and $40,000 in cash and aiding the Egyptian and Qatari governments in a nine-week trial that ended after 12 hours of deliberations over three days.
He was accused of accepting bribes from New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, who were convicted after going on trial alongside Mr. Menendez. A third businessman, Jose Uribe, had pleaded guilty and testified against Mr. Menendez.
His wife, Nadine Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, was also accused alongside the senator, but her trial is indefinitely postponed owing to recovering from breast cancer.
Mr. Menendez, 70, who has served as a public servant for 50 years and served in the Senate since 2006, pleaded not guilty and has confirmed he will appeal the conviction saying he was “deeply, deeply disappointed” by the verdict, and that any gifts given to him were not returned by favours. He maintains his innocence.
“I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” said Mr. Menendez, who stepped down from his position at the Foreign Relations Committee when charges were announced, denouncing any allegation that he was ever a foreign agent.
Defence lawyers say the gold belonged to Ms. Menendez, who did not disclose to her husband the financial troubles they had been undergoing.
Bundles of cash stashed in envelopes and coats around the house were part of the senator’s habitual Cuban upbringing, they said.
Mr. Menendez, who is running for reelection as an independent, has received numerous calls to step down after the verdict.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “Sen. Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has ordered the Senate to expel him if he does not willingly go. This requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
The senator faced corruption charges in 2017 over allegations of bribery for political favours for a Florida eye doctor, in exchange gifts such as luxury holidays. The case ended in a mistrial.
Sentencing for Mr. Menendez will commence on Oct. 29.
