Feds want 15 years for Menendez.
Is that a fair punishment?
By: Mike Kelly
Columnist
USA Today Network
..... How do you punish a sleazy politician?
....
Federal prosecutors want former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey to spend the next 15 years of his life in prison as punishment for trading his political influence for bribes.
..... Federal probation officials who are tasked with weighing the pros and cons of convicted felons like Menendez says it will take 12 years to rehabilitate and punish this guy.
..... In other words, mercy will be hard to come by later this month [01/2025] when the man who once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was once on a short-list of Democratic vice presidential candidates feces a federal judge in Manhattan.
..... And yet, Menendez's lawyers suggested that mercy is in order.
..... He is 71. His lawyer says a sentence that would keep Menendez in prison into his 80s would be cruel - the equivalent of a death sentence.
..... They have a point.
..... But how should America penalize someone so corrupt - and in his 70s? And so unrepentant?
..... First, let's face some troublesome facts about Menendez that should not be overlooked:
..... He's an embarrassment, a once-promising politician who placed greed ahead of the voters who sent him to the U.S. Senate. He's arrogant and deceitful - a flesh-and-blood example of pomposity run amok.
..... for years, he portrayed himself as an ordinary guy from the streets of Hudson County who understood the hopes, dreams and problems of ordinary Americans. he wanted New Jersey - and the rest of America - to think of him as the common man's politician.
.....
Yet he turned out to be nothing more than a two-bit phony.
.....
In taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt and cavorting in a questionable way with Qatar of behalf of his pal Fred Daibes, who was also convicted in the bribery scheme, Menendez sank to new lows of corruption that were shucking even for New Jersey, where sleaze seems part of the fabric of public life. If Shakespeare were still alive and writing tragedies, you can bet Menendez would be a character -a bad one, however.
.....
He was a child of Cuban immigrants who worked his way up the ladder of power in ways that were inspiring and promising. then he fell. But no one pushed him. Menendez pushed himself over the edge of the law and common-sense ethics. When he hit rock bottom, the sound you heard was a pathetic "splat" - the political Humpty Dumpty.
..... Evidence presented by federal prosecutors that led to Menendez's conviction last July [2024] on 16 counts of bribery and conspiracy revealed in stunning detail the machinations of a man filled with his own self-importance. In the end, he seemed blind to basic rules of right and wrong. His chief goal in life seemed to be filling his pockets and his bank account.
..... When Menendez did was not complicated to understand. The evidence demonstrated a simple equation for sleaze: If someone needed a favor from Senator Menendez, they might be asked to pay a king's ransom.
......
And Menendez, for all his self-proclaimed intelligence and insider-like government knowledge, didn't even bother to try to hide the evidence. When FBI agents raided his home in Englewood Cliffs, they found $150,000 in gold bars, $480,000 cash and a Mercedes-Benz in the driveway. Menendez later claimed that keeping all that cash was part of his Cuban heritage. Huh?
..... Adding to the tragedy of his fall is the fact that Menendez narrowly escaped prison in 2017, when another jury in another federal corruption trial remained deadlocked over whether he took bribes from one of his pals who wanted favors from the federal government. With no clear verdict, a judge declared a mistrial.
..... Menendez should have known that he barely escaped the noose of disgrace and a ticket to prison. But instead of embracing a moment of humility and learning a lesson, Menendez embraced the persona of a cheap, knucklehead mobster seeking vengeance. A third-rate Michael Corleone.
..... "To those who were digging my political grave so that they could jump into my seat, I know who you are and I won't forget you," Menendez promised.
..... It was a laughable statement, and empty threat from a hollow man.
..... But Menendez did not see the moment that way. He had already donned his ethical blinders. He never understood why the rest of the political world now saw him as a delusional blowhard.
..... It didn't take long for the FBI to catch up with him again.
..... Yes, Menendez wanted to be a vengeful guy. But he was also dumb. this time, the FBI even recorded meetings between Menendez and his would-be bribers.
..... After his convictions last July, [2024] he resigned his Senate seat.
..... As if being convicted and leaving the Senate were not bad enough, Menendez then sank again into the muck of sleaze. He blamed his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, for leading him astray and taking bribes.
..... Think of this latest excuse as a modern version of the biblical story of Eve encouraging Adam to take a bite of that forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden.
..... By the way, Menendez made that accusation against Nadine as she was battling breast cancer while also facing her won bribery trial. Nice timing, don't you think?
.....
Menendez is schedule to be sentenced on January 29. [2025] And now, in yet another subplot, Nadine Arslanian Menendez wants a delay in her trial, which is scheduled to begin on February 5. [2025] Her attorneys argue that publicity form her husband's sentencing will "substantially exacerbate the difficulty of selecting an impartial jury" for her trial.
..... Which brings us back to this question: What's the proper punishment for Bob Menendez?
As if to inject more sourness into this legal stew, Menendez released a statement last week [01/16/2025] in which he accused prosecutors of essentially cheating on their case by introducing "illegal evidence."
.....
In other words, Menendez does not seem all that repentant.
What about this as a sentence for Menendez?
..... That said, here is a possible sentence for Bob Menendez.
..... His own attorneys are asking for a sentence of 24 to 27 months - two years or so. That's far too lenient. But perhaps Judge Sidney Stein can find a midpoint between the recommendations of 15 years by prosecutors and 12 years by probation officials.
..... How about five years?
..... But Menendez's new prison home should not be a minimum security "Cap Cupcake" where he can spend his time lifting weights and reading novels. He needs to experience time with real felons, behind walls.
..... Menendez is 71. And keeping a nonviolent felon behind bars beyond his mid-70s seems needless
..... But let;s not let Menendez off the legal hook just yet. His attorneys are also pleading for "at least two years of rigorous community service."
..... Fine. But let's make it five years of very rigorous service after five years in prison. Menendez won't be allowed to sit behind a desk, passing out advice on how nonprofits can apply for government grants, No, sir.
.....
He can start by joining pick-up-the-trash detail on New Jersey's highways - in the winter. Then, he can join the janitors who clean the toilets on the late-night shift at the Port authority bus terminal in New York City and at train stations in Manhattan and Newark. Then, he can work in a homeless shelter. Then, a drug addiction center.
..... Yes, the work will be hard - rigorous, as his attorneys say. But it will also be a reminder of how Menendez overlooked the most bass goal of anyone in public service: to make life better and help people in need.
..... Maybe Bob Menendez will finally understand that lesson.