Former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption and working for Egypt and Qatar as an unregistered foreign agent, Reuters reported.
According to the agency, prosecutors had requested 15 years in prison for Menendez, but Judge Sidney Stein did not give the former senator the maximum term.
Menendez's accomplices, New Jersey entrepreneur Fred Debs and American-Egyptian businessman Wael Hanna, were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison, respectively, The New York Times reported.
Menendez was found guilty on July 16 2024. He resigned as senator in August. The former senator's lawyers asked in January not to sentence Menendez to an effective prison sentence, arguing that the trial itself was sufficient punishment for the defendant, since he had lost both his reputation and his financial well-being as a result of the proceedings.
In September 2023, the senator was accused of engaging in corrupt dealings with three New Jersey businessmen and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. The senator allegedly received cash, gold bars, expensive cars and other valuables. The Justice Department later filed additional charges against Menendez, accusing him of working for Egypt and Qatar as an unregistered foreign agent.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act has been in effect in the United States since 1938. According to it, any individual or legal entity working in the United States on behalf of a foreign party (government, political party, company, or any citizen) and engaging in political activity must register as a foreign agent.