Ex-Senator's Wife Sentenced to 4.5 Years

Former US Sen. Bob Menendez's wife was sentenced Thursday to 4.5 years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician's influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars, and a luxury car. US District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58, after she was convicted in April of colluding from 2018 to 2023 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a variety of corrupt schemes, some involving assisting the Egyptian government, the AP reports.

• In addition to her time behind bars, Stein sentenced her to three years of supervised release. He said he granted leniency in part because of the trial she endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, her history of abusive romantic partners, her health conditions, and her age. The judge said a prison term was important for general deterrence purposes. "People have to understand there are consequences," he said.

• Prosecutors had asked that she serve at least seven years in prison, while the Probation Department recommended an eight-year prison term. Menendez's lawyer, Sarah Krissoff, asked that she serve only a year behind bars, citing her difficult recovery from breast cancer, which was diagnosed just prior to a trial last year in which she was to be tried along with her husband. She ended up being tried separately. Menendez had a double mastectomy in the spring and prosecutors have said they won't oppose postponing her prison time until after her cancer treatment is completed, the New York Times reports.
• Bob Menendez, 71, is serving an 11-year sentence after his conviction last year on charges of taking bribes, extortion, and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government. Nadine Menendez started dating the senator in 2018 and they were married in 2020.

• Prior to the announcement of her sentence, a sobbing Nadine Menendez addressed the court, blaming her husband in part, saying she was duped by his power and stature and that she felt compelled to do whatever he wanted, such as calling or meeting with certain people. She described her husband as a manipulative liar. "I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet," she told the judge. "The blindfold is off. I now know he's not my savior. He's not the man I thought he was."
• Her lawyers described her as a "kindhearted and compassionate person" who became a "convenient scapegoat," per the Times. Prosecutors, however, said she played a large and crucial role in her husband's crimes, serving as an intermediary between the senator and three New Jersey businessmen who literally lined his coat pockets with tens of thousands of dollars in cash in return for favors he could deliver with his political clout. During a 2022 FBI raid on the couple's New Jersey home, investigators found $480,000 in cash and gold bars worth an estimated $150,000, and a luxury convertible in the garage.