In a brief docket entry on Friday, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein said the court accepts the guilty plea.
Mr. Uribe was originally charged as a co-defendant alongside Mr. Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, and fellow New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes.
All five defendants were alleged to have conspired together, with the three New Jersey businessmen allegedly lavishing the U.S. Senator and his wife with bribes, including cash, gold bars, and a convertible Mercedes-Benz C-300 luxury car. In turn, the Senator allegedly worked to benefit the New Jersey businessmen, including those with business interests tied to Egypt.
Mr. Uribe, in particular, is alleged to have maintained the payments for the Mercedes Benz, which investigators found parked in the garage of Mr. Menendez’s home. In return for this luxury car, Mr. Uribe allegedly sought Mr. Menendez’s help resolving a New Jersey state criminal prosecution against one of Mr. Uribe’s business partners.
NTD News reached out to Mr. Uribe’s legal team in the case, requesting more details about the plea arrangement but did not receive a response from by press time. Prosecutors in the case also declined a request for further comment.
Mr. Uribe is due to appear in court again on June 14 for sentencing.
NTD News also reached out to Mr. Menendez’s legal representatives for comment about this latest development in the case, but they also did not respond by press time.
Mr. Menendez has maintained his innocence throughout the criminal case.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Mr. Menendez said after the charges were announced in September. Mr. Menendez insisted he would “continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success” he’s had throughout his political career, spanning local, state, and federal offices.
The New Jersey Democrat stepped down from his position as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee shortly after the charges were announced but has rebuffed calls for his resignation over charges he characterized as a “smear campaign.”
“It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat,” Mr. Menendez said in September. “I am not going anywhere.”
Beyond allegedly working to resolve a criminal case against Mr. Uribe’s associate, Mr. Menendez is also alleged to have helped Mr. Hana and Mr. Daibes maintain a monopolistic business position. Specifically, Mr. Menendez allegedly dissuaded the U.S. Department of Agriculture from upending IS EG Halal Certified, Inc. as the sole certifier of Halal status for U.S. goods going to Egypt. Mr. Hana allegedly operated IS EG Halal with financial support and backing from Mr. Daibes.
Ms. Menendez is alleged to have formed a business entity—called Strategic International Business Consultants, LLC—for use as a vehicle for accepting bribery payments, including three checks of $10,000 each from IS EG Halal.
Mrs. Menendez, Mr. Hana, and Mr. Daibes have pled not guilty to the various charges against them.
