The verdict on Sen. Bob Menendez’s Sopranos-worthy bribery trial is finally in, and the Manhattan court prosecutors are getting the last laugh.
After two months of comedic testimony, a New York City jury on Tuesday found Menendez guilty on all counts of bribery charges after prosecutors alleged he and his wife, Nadine, accepted almost $150,000 in gold bars, a luxury car, and hundreds of dollars in cash from three New Jersey businessmen aiming to influence Menendez through his position as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The businessmen and Menendez’s co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, had a years-long agreement whereby Menendez would put his thumb on American policy-making on behalf of the Egyptian and Qatari governments, prosecutors said. The third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and testified against his former partners. Menendez, meanwhile, blamed his wife, whose trial will take place separately in part due to a recent breast cancer diagnosis.
