- Nadine Menendez sentenced to 4½ years for bribery involving gold bars.
- She was convicted of accepting bribes for favors to Egypt and businessmen.
- Her husband Bob Menendez received 11 years for related corruption charges.
NEW YORK — Nadine Menendez, the wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez, was sentenced on Thursday to 4½ years in prison for her role in an international corruption scheme involving gold bars that led to the downfall of her once-powerful husband.
Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bribes in exchange for her husband doing favors for Egypt and New Jersey businessmen. She was found guilty of all 15 counts she faced, including bribery and fraud. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, represented New Jersey for 18½ years in the Senate and served as chairman of its Foreign Relations Committee.
Bob Menendez, 71, was sentenced in January to 11 years in prison after his conviction at a separate trial. Prosecutors said he accepted bribes including gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz vehicle in exchange for shepherding U.S. military aid to Egypt and interfering in local prosecutions of businessmen.
"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," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement on Wednesday.
New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes had previously been sentenced to eight years and seven years in prison, respectively, over their roles in the scheme.
Nadine Menendez plans to appeal her conviction, defense lawyer Sarah Krissoff said. Krissoff said she appreciated that the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan was lower than the seven years that prosecutors had requested. The defense had suggested a sentence of just over one year.
"While we think the sentence was too long, we did expect that Nadine would be sentenced to a period of incarceration, due to the other sentences imposed," Krissoff said in a statement.
Nadine Menendez was to be tried together with her husband, but her trial was postponed after her lawyers said she needed treatment for breast cancer.
Bob Menendez was the first U.S. senator found guilty of acting as a foreign agent. He resigned from the Senate in August 2024 and is serving his sentence at a low-security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
