MANHATTAN (CN) — A New Jersey businessman pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Friday for his role in bribing Senator Robert Menendez, the disgraced Democratic politician accused by federal prosecutors of a far-reaching corruption scheme, according to court documents.
Jose Uribe, a former insurance broker and a co-defendant alongside Menendez, pleaded guilty to seven counts including conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud and obstruction of justice. He was accused of giving Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife and co-defendant, a Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for her husband’s efforts to thwart an insurance fraud probe against the businessman.
Uribe also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after he falsely told prosecutors that the payments he made towards the car were a loan. According to his plea agreement, Uribe will cooperate with federal prosecutors in their case against the senator, his wife and the three remaining co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty.
Judge Sidney Stein set Uribe’s sentencing for June 14. The trial against Menendez and the other defendants is slated to start May 6.
Menendez was charged last year after investigators seized gold bars and around $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed in envelopes in the senator’s clothing, from his New Jersey home.
In addition to Uribe’s scheme, Menendez is accused of taking bribes from Egyptian officials to protect business monopolies and influence U.S. foreign policy. Prosecutors claim that in one instance Menendez told his wife he was going to “sign off” on a $99 million sale to the Egyptian military, and his wife passed along the information to Egyptian government officials.
Prosecutors also accuse Menendez of taking bribes to help another New Jersey businessman and co-defendant, Fred Daibes. They say Menendez tried to influence President Joe Biden’s nomination for the U.S. attorney for New Jersey to protect Daibes from a criminal prosecution.
That effort was unsuccessful, prosecutors say.
“Fortunately, the public officials the senator sought to influence did not bend to the pressure. That’s a good thing,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement following last year’s indictment.
Since being initially charged in September 2023, Menendez was hit with superseding indictments that added to his laundry list of possible offenses. In October, prosecutors added a count of conspiring as a public official to act as a foreign agent. Earlier this year, Menendez was additionally charged with accepting bribes from Qatar.
After he was charged Menendez stepped down as chair of the Senate’s Foreign Relations committee, but he’s been steadfast on remaining in the Senate, despite members of his own party demanding that he step down.
Fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, urged Menendez to step aside last year.
“As Senator Menendez prepares to mount his legal defense, he has stated that he will not resign,” Booker said in a statement following the indictment. “Senator Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair. But I believe this is a mistake.”
Speaking to the Senate in January, Menendez maintained his innocence and blasted his critics, accusing them of making a “political calculation” in their calls for his resignation.
“For the administration, the political establishment and for my detractors, it would be much easier to have me exit the scene,” Menendez said. “But I will not step aside and allow these things to happen in the name of political expediency.”
The 70-year-old has been accused of similar offenses in the past. Menendez was previously charged for accepting gifts from a wealthy eye doctor, but the trial ended with a hung jury in 2017.
Menendez is up for reelection this year. He still hasn’t ruled out running to keep his seat.
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