Bob Menedez, a Democratic Senator from New Jersey, was convicted of taking bribes from Qatari and Egyptian officials.
In exchange for influence, the former chair of the Foreign Relations committee was given a Mercedez-Benz, gold bars, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
Damien Williams, US attorney for the southern district of New York, said “Because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end.”
Menendez was found guilty of 16 charges, with a combined sentence of 222 years for the 70-year-old senator.
When FBI agents found gold bars in his home, he claimed that he had the habit of keeping cash and gold around after feeling Communism and said, “It’s a Cuban thing.”
He also spent $300,000 at Morton’s Steakhouse where he would often meet with foreign officials.
