Bob Menendez Begins His 11-Year Sentence

Former Sen. Bob Menendez is now a federal inmate. The 71-year-old Democrat reported to the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill on Tuesday morning to begin serving his 11-year sentence, reports NBC News. The prison in Minersville, Pennsylvania is about three hours away from Menendez's home in New Jersey, CBS News reports. Menendez is appealing his conviction for bribery and acting as an agent for Egypt. Last week, a federal appeals court panel rejected his effort to remain free on bail during the appeals process.

The facility holds around 1,200 inmates, including organized crime boss James Coonan, the AP reports. Menendez is expected to end up in the institution's minimum-security prison camp, not the medium-security prison. NBC reports that Menendez strongly criticized Trump during the president's first term, but his allies have reached out to Trump in the hopes of getting a pardon or commutation of his sentence. In posts on X Tuesday that were later deleted, Menendez accused prosecutors of being politically motivated and praised Trump for "rising above the law fare," the AP reports. (More Bob Menendez stories.)