Nadine Menendez, 58, a crime of bribery and fraud related to using her husband’s influence on behalf of Egypt.
Nadine Menendez, wife of former US Senator Bob Menendez, was convicted of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribery in exchange for trying to use her husband’s influence to benefit Egyptian officials and businessmen in New Jersey.
Nadine Menendez, 58, was found guilty on Monday of all 15 counts she faced, including bribery, honest service wire fraud and conspiracy to act as foreign agents. She will be declared June 12 by US District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan.
The conviction comes after Bob Menendez, a Democrat who represented New Jersey for 18 and a half years, was sentenced to prison in January.
“Nadine Menendez and Senator Menendez were partners in crime,” Manhattan US lawyer Matthew Podolski said in a statement Monday after the sentencing.
“Together, Nadine Menendez and the Senator placed their own interests and greedily before the interests of the citizens elected to serve.”
Outside the court, Menendez, who pleaded not guilty, wore a pink mask as she stood next to her attorney Barry Cobain.
“We fought hard and it hurts,” he said. “This is a very tough day for us.”
Bob Menendez, formerly chairman of the leading diplomatic relations committee, was convicted last July of charges related to efforts to speed up access to US military aid in Egypt in exchange for bes such as gold, cash and Mercedes-Benz.
Bob Menendez, 71, resigned from the Senate the following month.
The evidence presented to the ju judges in the three-week trial followed a timeline of whirlwind romance between the couple, which began in early 2018 and continued even after criminal charges were filed in September 2023.
Nadine Menendez was to be tried with her husband for her suspected role in his plan, but her trial was postponed after her lawyer said she needed treatment for breast cancer.
Prosecutors said New Jersey businessman Wel Hanna arranged a meeting between the senator and Egyptian officials and pushed him to register for military aid.
In return, the businessman placed Nadine Menendez on the salary of the company he controlled, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said Hana and Nadine Menendez had communicated requests and orders from Egyptian officials to the senator.
Hana was convicted along with Bob Menendez and sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Another defendant, businessman Fred Daves, was also convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Prosecutors said Daves wanted the senator to protect him from the criminal cases he faces in New Jersey.
The couple also used his influence to pressure the New Jersey Attorney General’s office to stop investigating Uribe’s fellow colleagues, and in return for Bob Menendez, they received Mercedes-Benz from businessman Jose Uribe, prosecutors said.
Menendez was the first US senator in the history of the country to be found guilty of acting as a foreign agent.