Former Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (I-NJ) was convicted in New York on Tuesday of taking bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments, and more in exchange for his political favors.
Menendez had pleaded not guilty after being charged with 16 federal counts including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent, and obstruction.
Prosecutors argued that the Senator "put his power up for sale" in exchange for the gold, envelopes stuffed with money, checks to his wife (who was also charged in the scheme) for a job she never did, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible valued at over $60,000.
According to the indictment, an arrangement was brokered by New Jersey businessman Wael Hana, a friend of Menendez's wife, Nadine, who prosecutors said received the senator's help preserving "a halal meat monopoly."
ABC News reports that the senator also promised businessman Fred Daibes that he would "interfere with Daibes' federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar" by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.
The FBI also found gold bars and over $400,000 in cash the Menendezes had hidden in places around their home, including in jacket pockets and shoes, prosecutors said.
Daibes' fingerprints were found on envelopes containing cash found at Menendez's home. Serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors.
Menendez declined to testify in his own defense. His lawyers weakly claimed the prosecution failed to prove he and his wife had taken any "bribe" and that the jury had no choice but to acquit.
Nadine Menendez also pleaded not guilty to her charges and will be tried separately in August. She is battling Grade 3 breast cancer, the senator revealed in mid-May at the beginning of the trial.
This isn't the first time at the corruption rodeo for Menendez, ABC reports. A 2015 indictment ended in a mistrial in 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts.
Sentencing for Menendez had not yet been scheduled at press time. Please check back for updates on this breaking story.