Jury convicts wife of ex-Senator Bob Menendez on federal bribery charges

MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal jury on Monday convicted Nadine Menendez on federal bribery charges that stemmed from the same scheme which landed her husband, disgraced former U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, an 11-year prison sentence.

The jury deliberated for roughly eight hours before reaching their verdict: guilty on all 15 counts including bribery, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

Initiallycharged in 2023, Robert and Nadine Menendez were accused of taking various bribes from New Jersey businessmen and an Egyptian government official in exchange for Robert Menendez’s political influence. Prior to resigning over the federal charges, the senator was formerly the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and the highest-ranking Latino member of Congress.

“Together, Nadine Menendez and the senator placed their own interests and greed ahead of the interests of the citizens the senator was elected to serve,” Matthew Podolsky, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement Monday. “Today’s verdict sends the clear message that the power of government officials may not be put up for sale, and that all those who facilitate corruption will be held accountable for their actions.”

Speaking to reporters after the verdict was read Monday, Nadine Menendez’s attorney Barry Coburn said he was “devastated” by the jury’s decision.

“We respect the criminal justice system, we respect this court, we respect our judge and we respect the jury for its hard work,” Coburn said outside of the Manhattan federal courthouse. “Nonetheless, this is a very rough day for us.”

Coburn added that the “case is not over,” but declined to say whether he’d appeal the verdict, seek a pardon from President Donald Trump or comment on why Robert Menendez was not in attendance for the entirety of the trial.

Nadine Menendez did not take questions. She was stoic in the courtroom as the jury read out the guilty verdict, her face concealed by the same pink face mask that she wore throughout the proceedings. The judge set her sentencing for June 12, six days after her husband must report to prison.

Robert Menendez was convicted on his own federal bribery charges last year, with a federal jury in the Southern District of New York finding him guilty of using his position to commit official acts on behalf of the Egyptian government and meddle in various probes into New Jersey businessmen. His 11-year prison sentence is the longest ever to be handed down to a U.S. senator.

Nadine Menendez was initially slated to be tried alongside her husband, but her 2024 breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent double mastectomy iced her legal proceedings until this year, where she sat as the lone defendant at the defense table throughout the roughly three-week trial.

In the trial, she was scrutinized for her supposed role in the scheme. Prosecutors accused her of being the liaison between her husband, a New Jersey Democrat, and the several willing bidders eager to leverage his power in exchange for cash, cars and gold bars.

“They were partners in crime, partners in corruption and partners in greed,” assistant U.S. attorney Lara Pomerantz told jurors during the prosecution’sopening argument in March.

The couple was “on the take,” Pomerantz said. Prosecutors claimed Nadine Menendez helped her longtime friend and co-defendant Wael Hanna, a businessman with ties to Egypt, secure a lucrative monopoly on certifying halal meat imported into Egypt from the U.S. using the senator’s influence. She was also accused of urging her husband to unfreeze millions of dollars of U.S. military aid to Egypt, which had been paused due to human rights concerns.

Additionally, prosecutors said the Menendezes “promised to corrupt the criminal justice system” by taking bribes in exchange for efforts to interfere with investigations into several New Jersey businessmen.

One of those businessmen, Jose Uribe,testified on behalf of the government that Nadine Menendez hand-picked a Mercedes-Benz that he financed for her as a bribe. In exchange, he said she urged her husband to thwart a statewide probe into his trucking business.

“She told me she wanted a Mercedes-Benz,” Uribe testified on April 8, testimony that prosecutors called “devastating.”

Nadine Menendez’s defense attorney Barry Coburn argued during closings that the government failed to unequivocally prove that a quid pro quo had taken place, and said Robert Menendez’s actions in the scheme were official acts as a U.S. senator.

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