Menendez co-defendant pleads guilty to 7 counts

The Hill ^ | 03/01/24 12:39 PM ET | BY ZACH SCHONFELD AND ELLA LEE

[RandFan]

A New Jersey businessman charged with attempting to bribe Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) with a Mercedez-Benz for his political sway has pleaded guilty in the far-reaching corruption case.

Jose Uribe entered a guilty plea Friday in federal court in New York to charges that include conspiracy to commit bribery, obstruction of justice, and tax evasion, court filings show.

The terms of any agreement Uribe may have struck with the government remain unclear, but his plea could place Menendez in further legal jeopardy as he pledges to fight his charges and remain in the Senate. The Hill requested comment from Menendez’s attorneys.

Uribe was first indicted on two charges in the fall, and his plea includes five more charges newly unveiled Friday.

Uribe was originally accused of helping secure a Mercedes-Benz convertible for Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, in exchange for Menendez’s help disrupting a criminal investigation into the businessman by New Jersey’s attorney general. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to four counts each.

The businessman’s plea, however, acknowledges many of the facts at the center of the charges against the senator.

[Steely Tom]

The normal state of affairs in politics. The briber gets jail, the bribee gets to keep the cushy job.

[jmaroneps37]

While this stuff is normal in New Jersey, it is still important. Gold Bar Bobby is going to jail- the guy that just pleaded guilty will roll on Bobby and Misses Gold Bar for a lesser sentence.