Bob Menendez Gets 11 Years for Corruption

Former US Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for his conviction for accepting bribes of cash, a car, and what his lawyers said made him a "national punchline" and earned him a new nickname: "gold bar Bob."

• US District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan announced the sentence after Menendez tearfully addressed the judge, saying he'd lost everything he cared about, except for his wife, the AP reports. "You were successful, powerful, you stood at the apex of our political system," the judge said. "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."

• Prosecutors had requested a 15-year prison term for the Democrat who was convicted of multiple charges including acting as an agent for Egypt for selling his once-considerable clout in Washington for bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Given a chance to speak before he was sentenced, Menendez broke down several times as he described his accomplishments. "You really don't know the man you are about to sentence," Menendez told Stein. "Your honor, I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions," he added. "I've done far more good than bad. I ask you, your honor, to judge me in that context."

• Attorney Adam Fee told Stein to give Menendez credit for a "lifetime of extraordinary public service and personal sacrifices," saying, "Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as gold bar Bob."
• Earlier in the day, Stein give substantial prison terms to two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to the senator. Fred Daibes, a real estate developer, got seven years and a $1.75 million fine. Wael Hana, an entrepreneur, got eight years and a $1.25 million fine. He was also ordered to forfeit $125,000.

(More Bob Menendez stories.)