New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez suffered a major legal blow Friday as his former co-defendant in a bribery case was dealt a legal blow. plead guilty And he agreed to testify against top Democratic Party officials.
New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Manhattan to seven charges, including honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and bribery conspiracy.
Mr. Uribe admitted in court that he provided the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for “using his power and influence as a United States senator to obtain favorable results.” All investigations related to one of my colleagues have been discontinued.” ”
He faces 95 years in prison for his crimes and agreed to forfeit $246,000 in connection with those crimes.
Authorities have accused the Menendezs of accepting bribes including cash, gold bars and luxury cars in exchange for influence with the senator. Two other businessmen have also been charged and have pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Menendez was indicted in January on substitution charges related to allegations that he received luxury watches in exchange for influence in helping a New Jersey developer secure a multimillion-dollar contract with the Qatari government. The previous charges relate to alleged bribery that benefited the Egyptian government.
Mr. Menendez denies all charges against him.
He has also resisted calls from his own party to resign, including vocal criticism from Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
“I have a colleague in the Senate who has actually done something far more sinister, and he needs to go,” Fetterman said, likening him to a Republican who has been expelled from Congress. “Menendez is actually a senator from Egypt, not New Jersey.”
Menendez was previously indicted in a bribery case in 2015 for allegedly exchanging luxury flights, vacations and other perks for political favors. Because the jury was unable to reach a verdict, the judge declared a mistrial, after which prosecutors dropped the charges.
The 70-year-old Democrat was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and has served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A trial for the Democratic Party and its two remaining co-defendants is scheduled for May.
Here’s the surprising development:
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