Union City, then Paramus, followed by Englewood Cliffs. And now a federal prison cell in Pennsylvania, some 115 miles west of New York City. The new home of 71-year old, former Union City Mayor and former United States Senator Bob Menendez for the next eleven years.
Menendez reported to the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania today to begin his sentence for accepting bribes of gold bars and acting as an agent for Egypt, charges he continues to deny to this day.
Once one of the Democratic Party’s most powerful men, the former Chairman of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, resigned from office last year after being convicted on the bribery charges.
Agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation found nearly $500,000 in cash in his home, plus gold bars valued at approximately $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.
Prosecutors said Menendez performed corrupt favors for New Jersey businessmen, helping them with business deals with foreign countries and, as the Associated Press reported, “meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials before helping Egypt access $300 millionin U.S. military aid.”
Menendez served in the United States Senate since 2006.
Menendez’s wife Nadine was also convicted of bribery. Her sentencing is scheduled for September 11th. Two business owners were also convicted last year in connection to the Menendez case.