A judge sentenced former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, concluding his trial for a “long-running bribery and foreign influence scheme of rare gravity.” Menendez, 71, was convicted of 16 counts of bribery, extortion, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in July.
The sentence is the harshest ever handed down to a U.S. senator. Menendez was accused of accepting gifts totaling more than $100,000 in gold bars as well as cash, and of participating in a years-long bribery scheme involving the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
During the sentencing, Menendez broke down in tears and pleaded with U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein for mercy, saying, “I have lost everything. Other than family, I have lost everything I care about. Every day I am awake is punishment. I am far from a perfect man… in half-century of public service, I have done far more good than bad.”
Menendez’s defense attorney, Adam Fee, asked for a sentence of no more than eight years, citing his client’s lifetime of public service. Prosecutors, on the other hand, requested a 15-year sentence.
Menendez’s co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were both sentenced to eight and seven years, respectively. Daibes and Hana were also accused of being involved in the bribery scheme, with Hana claiming he was an innocent man.
Outside the courthouse, Menendez proclaimed his innocence, calling the prosecution a “witch hunt” and stating that President Trump was right to claim that the process was political and corrupted. He resigned from the Senate amid Democratic pressure following his guilty verdict. His wife, Nadine, is set to go on trial on March 18 on charges of receiving paychecks for a job that did not exist.