US court sentences Robert Menendez to 11 years after senator serviced Egyptian govt interests in office

Former United States Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday for taking thousands of dollars in cash and assets and facilitating a business monopoly in exchange for preferential treatment of Egypt, including the payment of military aid to the country.

The judge’s decision made Menendez the first US senator in history to be charged and sentenced for acting as a foreign agent.

At the court session in New York on Wednesday, prosecutor Paul Monteleoni described Menendez’s action as a “truly grave breach of the trust,” referring to the former senator’s service of the Egyptian government’s interests by acting to protect a monopoly over meat certification established by a businessman of Menendez’s acquaintance and the Egyptian government in the beef import industry.

Menendez pleaded innocent until the last, claiming that the gold bars found on his property and presented as evidence in the trial had belonged to his wife, Nadine Menendez, who is yet to face trial on similar charges in the same case.

Menendez, who resigned from his post in August, was convicted in July on charges of using his post as head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee between 2018 and 2022 to give favors to Egypt.

Prosecutors argued that Menendez granted favors for three New Jersey businessmen, including access to and the conclusion of business deals with foreign countries, in exchange for bribes such as the gold bars and a Mercedes.

They also cited meetings Menendez held with Egyptian intelligence officials and steps he took to help Egypt access “millions of dollars” in US military aid.

Two of the businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also served prison time on Wednesday. Jose Uribe, however, pleaded guilty last year.

Daibes, an American real estate developer, was sentenced to seven years, and Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, was given an eight-year prison sentence.

US District Judge Sidney H. Stein ordered the former senator to report to prison on June 6, granting him a grace period to attend his wife’s trial in March. The Attorney's Office said she is presumed innocent.

The charges against Menendez were based on evidence presented by federal prosecutors in New York last year, including US$480,000 in cash found during a 2022 raid on his New Jersey home — some of it stuffed inside boots and clothing pockets — as well as gold bars worth an estimated $150,000.

Prosecutors also mentioned his attempt to protect his associates from criminal investigation.

According to the indictment, Menendez was involved in issues such as pushing for the disbursement of a portion of US military aid to Egypt — conditional on human rights developments — at times when the aid amount was in question. He also lobbied for the State Department to take a more active role on Egypt's behalf in negotiations with Sudan and Ethiopia over the megadam Ethiopia built on the Nile.

Menendez also lobbied US government officials to overlook anticompetitive practices by the Halal certification company owned by Hana — IS EG Halal Certified — which, according to the indictment, was used to pay bribes to Menendez and his wife.

Mada Masr revealed in 2019 that Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry granted IS EG Halal exclusive rights to audit and accredit US and South American beef exporters as halal compliant — a monopoly that ultimately pushed three competing US companies out of the market and raised beef prices for Egyptians already struggling in a strenuous economic climate.

The former US Senator insisted that his interactions with Egyptian officials were normal, given his position at the time as head of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez, who was a Democratic senator for more than 18 years, was previously indicted for bribery in a separate case that was ultimately dismissed in 2018.

During the sentencing session in New York on Wednesday, the presiding judge praised Menendez’s former success as part of the American political system, adding, “Somewhere along the way — and I don’t know when it was — you lost your way, and working for the public good became working for your good.”

His defense lawyer, Adam Fee, argued for leniency for the 71-year-old former senator on the grounds of his age and years of public service.

Yet the judge stated that his conviction could have warranted a sentence of 24 to 30 years in prison, while the prosecutor recommended 15 years.

Fee added that despite his “decades of service,” Menendez is now more publicly known as “Gold Bar Bob.”