A New Jersey businessman and co-defendant in Sen. Bob Menendez’s, D-N.J., corruption case pleaded guilty to seven counts and said he would cooperate with investigators.
Jose Uribe on Friday pleaded guilty to a slate of charges that include conspiracy to commit bribery, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and tax evasion. He faces up to 95 years in prison if convicted on all counts. In his plea agreement, Uribe said he would cooperate with prosecutors against Menendez.
Federal prosecutors initially unsealed charges against Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, in September. They include accusations that he benefited the government of Egypt and engaged in a corrupt scheme alongside Uribe, New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes, and Wael Hana, who runs a halal meat certification business in the state.
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Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez depart a Manhattan court after they were arraigned on federal bribery charges in New York, United States on September 27, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Menendez and his wife allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes “to seek to protect and enrich” Uribe, Daibes, and Hana. The bribes included cash, gold bars, home mortgage payments, compensation for no-show jobs, and “other things of value,” according to the indictment.
Left: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyys meeting with U.S. Senators in the Capitol on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Right: An image of the gold bar recovered from Sen. Bob Menendezs residence as shown in the DOJ indictment against him. (Getty Images/Department of Justice)
Uribe also allegedly helped Menendez and his wife purchase a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible valued at over $60,000. According to the indictment, Menendez had agreed to interfere in a New Jersey state criminal prosecution dealing with an associate of Uribe, who faced insurance fraud charges relating to a trucking company and an employee of Uribe.
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Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) arrives to the Senate Chambers of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Menendez, whose trial is scheduled to start in May, has denied any wrongdoing and said forces “behind the scenes” are working to silence him and dig his “political grave.” He, his wife, Daibes, and Hana have pleaded not guilty.
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Menendez’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.