A jury recognized Nadine Menendez guilty in her federal corruption trial, following her husband’s conviction, former senator from New Jersey Bob Menendez, on similar crimes.
The prosecutors argued that the two were “partners in crime” while accusing them of accepting species, gold bars and a luxury car in exchange for political favors.
The defense argued that there was no evidence that Nadine Menendez was involved in the program that her husband was found guilty of having perpetrated.
The jurors began to deliberate Friday afternoon before carrying their verdict on Monday afternoon.
She will be sentenced in June, the same month that her husband was expected to present herself to the prison to start serving an 11 -year sentence.
Nadine Menendez, wife of former American senator Robert Menendez arrived at the Federal Court, for her corruption trial in New York on March 20, 2025.
Brendan McDermid / Reuters
She pleaded not guilty to 15 counts, in particular in conspiracy to commit corruption, a conspiracy to commit fraud of honest services and a plot to commit extortion under the color of the official law. Several of the accusations bear a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison in January after being sentenced for the 16 chiefs last year during his federal corruption trial, becoming the first member of the Congress to be sentenced to having acted as a foreign agent.
A jury found him guilty of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes-in particular gold, cash, a luxury convertible, payments to mortgage and compensation from Nadine Menendez for her non-presentation work-of three New Jersey businessmen, who were also convicted.
“Nadine Menendez and Senator Menendez were partners in crime,” said acting American lawyer Matthew Podolsky in a statement according to the verdict in the foreign corruption and influence program. “During five years, Nadine Menendez agreed to accept and accept all kinds of bribes-including gold bars, cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and non-presentation work-all in exchange for their own corrupt interests of the senator.
“Today’s verdict sends the clear message that the power of government representatives may not be on sale and that all those who facilitate corruption will be held responsible for their actions,” he added.
The FBI said it found $ 70,000 in cash in the safe of Nadine Menendez and the rest inside the jackets of the Congress bearing the name of Bob Menendez.
Shortly after the two started to go out together in 2018, Nadine Menendez introduced Egyptian information and military officials at the time. Bob Menendez, according to federal prosecutors, who alleged that these introductions helped to establish a corrupt agreement in which they accepted bribes in exchange for her husband’s actions for the benefit of Egypt.
Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife Nadine Arslanian, arrived at the American district court, South New York district, in New York on September 27, 2023.
Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images
The witnesses of the trial included Jose Uibe, a businessman from New Jersey who pleaded guilty last year and testified for the government. The prosecutors said that Uibe had paid the Mercedes-Benz convertible of $ 60,000 from Menendez in exchange for the disturbance of a criminal investigation by the Office General of the New Jersey linked to Uribe.
Nadine Menendez was supposed to be tried alongside her husband, but the judge allowed her to undergo a trial separately to accommodate her diagnosis of breast cancer. Her test was postponed several times while she has undergone treatment.
The trial itself was also suspended for several days because it was sick.
On March 17, on the eve of the jury selection in the trial of Nadine Menendez, the former senator Posted on X That his wife was “forced by the government to be judged” despite a recent reconstructive surgery for breast cancer.
“Only the arrogance of SDNY can be so cruel and inhuman,” said Bob Menendez in the post, who marked President Donald Trump. “They should let it recover completely.”
After his conviction, Bob Menendez described the accusation of “hunt for political witches” and that he hopes that Trump “cleanses the sump and restores the integrity of the system”.
By issuing Bob Menendez’s sentence, judge Sidney Stein said that the former senator would not have to appear in prison before June 6 so that he could be available during his wife’s trial.
