RT reported that Mr. Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 16 counts of accepting bribes in cash and gold, and acting illegally as an agent for the Egyptian government.
Menendez, a veteran New Jersey Democrat, was convicted last July and resigned as a senator a month later to avoid being removed from office. He previously chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was known for his hardline stance, particularly in pushing for sanctions against Russia.
"The public cannot be led to believe that bribery, fraud and treason can be tolerated. I do not know what led you to this downfall, and you will probably have to find out for yourself for the rest of your life," Federal Judge Sidney Stein said on January 29.
Prosecutors had previously sought a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison along with fines and asset forfeitures amounting to millions of dollars, stressing that a severe punishment was necessary to ensure fairness and deter similar abuses of power in the future.
Mr Menendez is the first US senator to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government. In court, he said: "For someone who has spent his life in public service, every day is a punishment for me."
Mr. Menendez’s political career spanned nearly 50 years, beginning in 1974 when he was elected to the Union City Board of Education. He served as Mayor of Union City from 1986 to 1992, then served in the New Jersey State Legislature before representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006. From there, he was appointed to the Senate and held numerous important positions.
Menendez was forced to step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September 2023 after being indicted. He played a key role in crafting sanctions against Russia, even before the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February 2022.
Menendez's defense attorney, Adam Fee, argued that his nearly 50 years of public service should not be overshadowed by the verdict. He also rejected negative portrayals of Menendez, particularly the nickname "Gold Bar Bob" that the media gave him after he was accused of accepting bribes in the form of gold bars and cash. The nickname highlighted a shocking detail in the case - Menendez was found to have gold bars in his home, allegedly bribes from businessmen with ties to the Egyptian government.
The team of lawyers also filed a request to stay the execution of the sentence pending appeal.
The US has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, especially after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Ukraine since 2022.
Sanctions include embargoes on Russian banks. Major banks such as Sberbank, VTB, and Gazprombank were removed from the international payment system SWIFT, limiting their ability to conduct global transactions.
The US froze Russian assets in the country, preventing Russia from accessing US dollars, making international trade more difficult.
In the energy and industrial sectors, the US and its allies block Russia's access to advanced oil drilling technology, ban imports of oil, gas and coal from Russia...
