Disgraced Ex-NJ Democratic Senator Reports to Prison After Bribery Conviction
By Martin Walsh | Getty Images

Former New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has officially begun his 11-year federal prison sentence after being convicted of a wide-ranging bribery scheme.

Nicknamed “Gold Bar Bob,” Menendez, 71, reported Tuesday morning to FCI Schuylkill in Pennsylvania, about 2.5 hours from his Englewood Cliffs home. He was found guilty last July on 16 counts of bribery, fraud, and corruption.

Federal prosecutors said Menendez accepted gold bars, hundreds of thousands in cash, and other luxury items from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for political favors—some benefiting the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

He was sentenced in January but was allowed to delay reporting in order to support his wife, Nadine Menendez, who was also convicted and will begin her sentence in September. The couple was seen together on Monday visiting a local credit union.

Menendez is expected to serve his time at the prison’s minimum-security camp, typical for non-violent white-collar crimes.

During the 2022 FBI raid of his home, agents found $480,000 in cash and $150,000 in gold bars hidden throughout the house, along with a luxury Mercedes-Benz convertible allegedly obtained through bribes.

Menendez had asked former President Donald Trump for a last-minute pardon, which did not come through. Last week, a federal appeals court denied his request to remain free on bail during his appeal.

At sentencing, Menendez admitted to making “poor choices,” with his attorneys framing him as the son of Cuban immigrants who once represented the American Dream—before becoming, in their words, a “national punchline.”