Listen to this articleThe basics:
- Nadine Menendez sentenced to 54 months in prison in bribery scheme
- Case tied to former Sen. Bob Menendez and multiple co-conspirators
- Bribes included gold bars, cash, luxury gifts
- Judge cited corruption, but noted health and personal history
Sentencing for Nadine Menendez, the wife of former New Jersey U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, took place Sept. 11 in Manhattan for her role in a scheme that led to the couples’ convictions, along with several co-conspirators.
Menendez received a sentence of 54 months (or 4.5 years) in prison for bribery, foreign agent and obstruction of justice offense.
As NJBIZ reported, the couple were charged, along with businessmen Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe, with engaging in a corruption and foreign influence scheme that leveraged Bob Menendez’s power as a sitting a U.S. senator and chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee (see a timeline below).
Prosecutors charged that the Menendezes accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes – including the notable gold bars found during a search of their home – in exchange for protecting those individuals’ interests and to benefit a foreign country (Egypt) through the-then senator’s powerful post and connections.
Bob Menendez, Hana and Daibes were convicted last July on multiple charges and sentenced to 11 years, more than eight years and seven years in prison, respectively. Uribe plead guilty and cooperated. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9. Bob Menendez began serving his sentence in June.
Nadine Menendez’s trial was delayed because of treatments for breast cancer. However, following a five-week trial, she was convicted in April on 15 counts, as NJBIZ reported.
‘The most brazen form of public corruption’
In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein also sentenced her to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay forfeiture of $922,188. Because of ongoing medical treatments, Stein set her surrender date for July 10, 2026.
“The defendant and her partner in crime, former Sen. Robert Menendez, engaged in the most brazen form of public corruption – gold bars, cash, and a luxury car in exchange for a Senator’s power,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. “Today’s sentence sends an important message: our elected officials are not for sale.”
During the sentencing proceeding, Nadine Menendez was notably critical of her husband.
“I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet,” she told the judge, according to an AP report. “The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior. He’s not the man I thought he was.”
‘You knew what you were doing’
While Stein reportedly acknowledged that she wasn’t quite the true force behind the conspiracies as she was painted during her husband’s trial — she was also not a passive participant. Stein also noted that Nadine Menendez was not merely an “innocent observer of what was happening around you” as her attorney had argued.
“You knew what you were doing. Your role was purposeful,” said Stein, according to the AP.
Stein said he granted some leniency in his sentencing because of the trial she endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, her abusive romantic partners, her health conditions and her age. Nadine Menendez is 58. But that a prison term was critical for deterrence.
“People have to understand there are consequences,” said Stein.
Sarah Krissoff, Nadine Menendez’s attorney, said her client plans to appeal. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez coverage: A timeline
- Sept. 22, 2023: Menendez hit with 3-count indictment
- Sept. 25, 2023: ‘Not going anywhere,’ Menendez indictment ripples across NJ
- Sept. 25, 2023: Defiant Menendez gears up for ‘biggest fight yet’
- Sept. 26, 2023: Booker agrees as calls mount for Menendez to resign
- Oct. 12, 2023: Superseding indictment accuses Menendez of acting as foreign agent
- Oct. 24, 2023: Menendez pleads not guilty
- Jan. 3, 2024: Superseding indictment alleges Menendez accepted bribes to help Qatar
- March 6, 2024: Menendez faces new obstruction charges
- March 22, 2024: Menendez won’t run in Senate Democratic primary
- July 16, 2024: Menendez found guilty on all counts
- July 17, 2024: Calls for Menendez to resign grow following guilty verdict
- July 23, 2024: Menendez to step down from Senate seat
- Sept. 5, 2024: Menendez co-defendant Daibes pleads guilty
- Jan. 29, 2025: Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison (updated)
- April 22, 2025: Menendez’s wife convicted on all 15 counts in bribery case
