Ex-Senator Bob Menendez set to report to federal prison for 11-year bribery sentence
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Menendez, 71, maintains his innocence. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected his last-ditch effort to remain free on bail while he fights to get his bribery conviction overturned. A three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his bail motion.
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Pleading for leniency, Menendez told a judge at his sentencing in January: 'I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions. I've done far more good than bad.'
Menendez has also appeared to be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump, aligning himself with the Republican's criticisms of the judicial system, particularly in New York City.
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'This process is political and it's corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,' Menendez told reporters after his January sentencing.
Menendez resigned last year after he was convicted of selling his clout for bribes. FBI agents found $480,000 in cash in his home, some of it stuffed inside boots and jacket pockets, along with gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.
In exchange, prosecutors said, Menendez performed corrupt favors for New Jersey business owners, including protecting them from criminal investigations, helping in business deals with foreign powers and meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials before helping Egypt access $300 million in U.S. military aid.
Menendez, who once served as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned his seat a month after his conviction. He had been in the Senate since 2006.
Two business owners also were convicted last year along with Menendez.
His wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted in April of teaming up with her husband to accept bribes from the business owners. Her sentencing has been set for Sept. 11.
At his sentencing, Menendez's lawyers described how the son of Cuban immigrants emerged from poverty to become 'the epitome of the American Dream' — rising from mayor of Union City, New Jersey, to decades in Congress — before his conviction 'rendered him a national punchline.'
'Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as Gold Bar Bob,' defense lawyer Adam Fee told the judge.
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