Ex-senator’s wife bags 4½ years imprisonment for conspiring with husband in bribery case

Nadine Menendez, wife of former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, was sentenced Thursday to four and a half years in prison for her role in a bribery scheme that exchanged political influence for cash, gold bars, and luxury perks.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein delivered the sentence after Nadine, 58, was convicted in April of conspiring with her husband between 2018 and 2023 to benefit wealthy associates and, in some cases, the Egyptian government. 

She was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

Prosecutors sought at least seven years, while the Probation Department recommended eight. Her lawyers argued for just one year, citing her breast cancer diagnosis and other health concerns. Stein noted her difficult upbringing in Lebanon and history of abusive relationships but stressed deterrence: “People have to understand there are consequences.”

In court, Nadine tearfully said she was manipulated by her husband. “I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet… The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior,” she told the judge, though she admitted she bore responsibility.

Bob Menendez, 71, the former Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is serving an 11-year sentence for bribery, extortion, and acting as an agent for Egypt. 

In a letter to the court, he defended his wife, saying, “To suggest that Nadine was money hungry or in financial need, and therefore would solicit others for help, is simply wrong.”

Prosecutors argued Nadine was central to the corruption, serving as a go-between for her husband and three New Jersey businessmen who funneled cash and gifts in exchange for political favors. An FBI raid in 2022 uncovered nearly $500,000 in cash, gold bars worth about $150,000, and a luxury Mercedes convertible.

The case revealed how Menendez used his influence to help associates with ties to Egypt, including access to U.S. military aid. 

Nadine will serve her sentence while her husband remains in prison, sealing the dramatic fall of one of Washington’s once most powerful couples.