Robert Menendez, the disgraced former Pro-Armenian U.S. senator from New Jersey, should spend at least 15 years in prison following his corruption conviction, after he betrayed voters by putting his office "up for sale" in exchange for bribes, U.S. prosecutors said, APA reports citing Reuters.
The recommendation was filed on Thursday night in Manhattan federal court, a week after Menendez's lawyers pleaded for leniency, citing the 71-year-old's age, decades of public service, charitable works, devotion to family, and financial and professional ruin.
Probation officers recommended a 12-year prison term, which Menendez's lawyers described as an effective "death sentence."
Menendez, a Democrat who spent 18-1/2 years in the Senate and chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was convicted last July on all 16 counts he faced, including acting as an agent of a foreign government.
Prosecutors said Menendez accepted gold, cash, a Mercedes-Benz and other rewards in exchange for political favors, including shepherding of military aid to Egypt and providing assistance to Qatar, as part of a bribery conspiracy.
In Thursday's filing, prosecutors also recommended that two New Jersey businessmen convicted with Menendez, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, should spend at least 10 years and nine years in prison, respectively.
Motivated by "naked greed," the defendants engaged in crimes that were "an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the legislative branch, to corrupt the nation's core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement," prosecutors said.
In Thursday's filing, prosecutors also recommended that two New Jersey businessmen convicted with Menendez, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, should spend at least 10 years and nine years in prison, respectively.
Motivated by "naked greed," the defendants engaged in crimes that were "an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the legislative branch, to corrupt the nation's core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement," prosecutors said.
In their sentencing recommendation, prosecutors said Menendez is the first senator convicted for abusing a Senate committee leadership position, and the first person convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official.
Menendez was also accused of trying to disrupt criminal probes in New Jersey on behalf of Daibes and a one-time insurance broker, Jose Uribe. Uribe testified at trial for the government.
Prosecutors said Menendez committed crimes even after a Senate ethics committee admonished him for receiving gifts from a wealthy donor, Salomon Melgen, without required approval and disclosures.
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