US Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was found guilty of bribery offenses and conspiracy to act as a foreign agent Tuesday after being charged for receiving more than $500,000 in cash, $100,000 worth of gold bars, and a Mercedes luxury car from three businessmen.  The senator’s trial lasted for a month, and jury deliberations took more than two days. Businessmen Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, and Jose Uribe were also found guilty in the case.

Bob Menendez was found guilty on all 16 counts, including bribery, honest services wire fraud,  extortion under official color of right, conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice.  Hana, Uribe, and Daibes were also found guilty on all counts against them.

Prosecutors alleged that Bob Menendez facilitated military aid for Egypt and worked to protect Hana’s Egyptian Halal certification monopoly after the businessman gave the senator’s now-wife Nadine Menendez a low-to-no-show job. They also claimed that Menendez received gold bars in exchange for influencing the US Attorney’s Office regarding charges against Daibes and a Mercedes for pressuring a New Jersey prosecutor to be favorable in a criminal case against Uribe. Additionally, a superseding indictment claimed that Menendez promoted the government of Qatar to secure an investment in a real estate project that Daibes was involved with, receiving cash and gold bars for his efforts.

Menendez said during a post-trial press conference that he was “deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision” and announced that he would appeal.  “I have never, ever been a foreign agent, and the decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be,” Menendez continued.

US Attorney Damien Williams, following the verdict, said: “This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit. And now that a jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end.” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy stated, “Today’s verdict finding Senator Bob Menendez guilty on 16 counts demonstrates that the Senator broke the law, violated the trust of his constituents, and betrayed his oath of office. It also shows that in America, everyone—no matter how powerful— is accountable to our laws.”

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Menendez to resign. “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said on X (formerly Twitter). Although Menendez refused to resign from his post following the indictment, he can be expelled from the US Senate following a two-thirds vote.

Menendez was previously tried for corruption offenses in 2017 for allegedly accepting over $600,000 in bribes. However, a jury deadlocked on the charges, resulting in a mistral. A federal judge then acquitted Menendez on 7 out of 18 charges facing him in January 2018, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped the remaining charges days later.

According to the New York Times, sentencing in the case is scheduled for October 29. Menendez’s wife Nadine, who was also charged in the case, has yet to be tried due to a breast cancer diagnosis.