Ex-Senator's Wife Sentenced to 4.5 Years for Bribery Scheme

Tue Oct 21 2025 04:03:51 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Nadine Menendez, wife of former US Senator Robert Menendez, has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for her role in a bribery scheme involving cash, gold, and influence over U.S. foreign policy. The case highlights the consequences of corruption in politics.

Nadine Menendez has received a 4.5-year prison sentence for participating in a bribery scheme, where she acted as a middleman between her husband and Egyptian officials. The court emphasized the importance of accountability in political corruption cases. She expressed deep regret during her sentencing and will not start her prison term until next July to complete necessary medical procedures after her breast cancer diagnosis.

The wife of former US Senator Robert Menendez has been sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison for aiding her husband in a bribery scheme involving stacks of cash, gold bars, and a Mercedes-Benz.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April of 15 counts, including bribery, after jurors found she acted as a conduit for her husband and Egyptian officials, relaying messages and arranging meetings.

I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet, she told the judge, sobbing, before her sentencing on Thursday.

Her husband was convicted last year and sentenced to 11 years for the scheme that also led to his political downfall. Prosecutors had described her as indispensable to the plot.

On Thursday morning, Menendez wept as she addressed the judge. I now know, he's not my saviour. He's not the man I thought he was, she said referring to her husband.

At the time of the scheme, Robert Menendez was the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which gave him significant influence over US foreign policy. Prosecutors said the couple exploited his position to secretly aid the Egyptian government's interests in Washington. They had sought a sentence of at least seven years for Ms. Menendez.

District Judge Sidney H. Stein instead sentenced her to 54 months, emphasizing that the prison term was crucial to deter others from committing similar crimes.

Menendez will begin her sentence next summer, allowing her to finish medical treatments following her breast cancer diagnosis. An FBI search of the couple's New Jersey home uncovered over $100,000 in gold and hundreds of thousands in cash. Other individuals involved in the scheme have also faced legal repercussions.