Disgraced ex-Sen. Bob “Gold Bars” Menendez absolutely deserves to go to prison for 15 years, as federal prosecutors have requested.
In July, a jury of his peers convicted Menendez on 16 bribery and corruption charges involving payments in gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars from three New Jersey businessmen and the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
At trial, he claimed he was merely helping constituents as part of his official duties: His actions were “exactly what we want our elected officials to do,” his lawyer insisted.
Then he tried to blame it all on his wife, who of course wasn’t a senator and so couldn’t deliver anything for the bribes.
He also protested that keeping a fortune in gold and cash concealed in your home is just a “Cuban thing.”
The New Jersey Democrat is the first US senator ever convicted of acting as a foreign agent, and he committed these crimes after escaping conviction in a previous corruption trial in 2017.
Yes, he’s 71, so a long sentence puts him at risk of dying in prison.
Boo hoo.
Fact is, his conviction on so many charges leaves him eligible for a sentence of up to 200 years.
The prosecution’s already being merciful in asking for just 15 years.
The best way to “honor” his corrupt legacy is to throw the book when he’s sentenced in Manhattan federal court come Jan. 29.
