On Tuesday, former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez will report to federal prison to start serving an 11-year sentence for acting as an Egyptian agent and accepting cash and gold bribes.
According to his own attorney, the New Jersey Democrat has been called “Gold Bar Bob” for the crimes.
In court documents filed last month, Menendez’s attorneys disclosed that he is anticipated to be held at a facility in eastern Pennsylvania that houses a minimum-security prison camp in addition to a medium-security prison. He’ll probably wind up in the camp because his crimes are white-collar.
The Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution is located roughly 190 kilometers (118 miles) west of New York City.
About 1,200 prisoners reside there, including former New York City organized crime leader James Coonan and former gas station owner Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa, who was dubbed “Gas-Station Gotti” by the New York Post for his violent and merciless methods.
The 71-year-old Menendez insists on his innocence.
His final attempt to be released on bail while he battles to have his bribery conviction overturned was denied by a federal appeals court last week. His bail motion was denied by a three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
At his sentencing in January, Menendez told a judge, pleading for leniency, “I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions. I’ve done far more good than bad.”
Alongside the Republican’s criticism of the legal system, especially in New York City, Menendez has also seemed to be hoping for a pardon from President Donald Trump.
“This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” Menendez told reporters.
Last year, Menendez resigned following his conviction for selling his influence for bribes.
In addition to a luxury convertible in the garage and gold bars estimated to be worth $150,000, FBI agents discovered $480,000 in cash in his house, some of which was stuffed inside boots and jacket pockets.
Prosecutors claimed that Menendez protected New Jersey business owners from criminal investigations, assisted in dealings with foreign powers, and met with Egyptian intelligence officials before facilitating Egypt’s access to $300 million in U.S. military aid in exchange for corrupt favors.
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A month after his conviction, Menendez, who had previously chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned. Since 2006, he had served in the Senate.
In addition to Menendez, two business owners were also found guilty last year.
In April, his wife, Nadine Menendez, was found guilty of conspiring with her husband to take bribes from the company’s owners. On September 11, she will be sentenced.
Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, rose from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream” at his sentencing, going from being mayor of Union City, New Jersey, to serving in Congress for decades, before his conviction “made him a national joke.”
Adam Fee, the defense attorney, informed the judge that, “despite his decades of service, he is now more widely known as Gold Bar Bob.”
