By Andrea Espinoza
17 Jul 2024, 17:22 PM EDT
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez was found guilty of all 16 counts against him, including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent in a scheme in which he benefited from his political position for years.
Prosecutors said that The politician, of Cuban roots, abused the power in his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associatesincluding his wife, as part of the investigation against him, it was mentioned that he held meetings with Egyptian intelligence officials and supported that nation accessing millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
Therefore, a jury found him guilty of all charges and upon hearing The verdict Menendez simply shook his head in disapproval of the decision, although the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in the case. Her trial will take place once she has recovered from her breast cancer diagnosis..
The remarkable thing is that although her husband’s defense tried to hold her responsible for all the crimes alleged, she also pleaded not guilty.
The penalties for the charges of extortion and wire fraud carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each charge, In this sense, the senator would face a maximum of 222 years for the accumulation of the 16 charges..
The New Jersey senator’s troubles began in 2022 when during a search conducted by the police at his home, $480,000 dollars were discovered hidden among clothes and shoes, as well as in a safe. To this sum were also added the findings of 13 gold bars valued at $150,000 dollars, and a luxury Mercedes Benz car.
At that moment, Menéndez tried by all means to pretend that his ostentation was the product of his work, But as the authorities began to put things together, they discovered the illicit way in which the politician had been operating for a long time.
Throughout the trial, the testimony of New Jersey businessman José Uribe was key to convicting Bob Menéndez, as in his statements he accused him of having given him bribes in exchange for legal favors.
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