In a significant legal development, New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe has entered a guilty plea to seven federal charges and has agreed to serve as a witness against Senator Bob Menendez.
Bob Menendez co-defendant pleads guilty
Proceedings in a Manhattan court saw Uribe confess to a series of crimes including wire fraud and tax evasion, with implications for the senator’s legal battles.
During his testimony, Uribe detailed an exchange, providing a luxury vehicle to the senator’s spouse as part of a scheme to leverage Menendez’s political clout.
The Senator allegedly accepted a Mercedes from Uribe in exchange for his help with a investigation by the state attorney general.
Uribe’s crimes carry a potential 95-year prison sentence, and he must also surrender $246,000 under the plea deal.
Senator Menendez, alongside his wife, is implicated in a corruption case, accused of receiving bribes paid through cash, gold, and high-end goods in return for using his senatorial influence.
An FBI search of Menendez’s home in December turned up four gold bars that were directly linked to New Jersey businessman Fred Daibes.
The agency believes they were used to pay of Mendez to influence the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office while they were investigating Daibes for bank fraud in 2018.
How the FBI linked Bob Menendez to co-defendant with gold bars
Interestingly, the FBI was able to make the connection between the Senator and the businessman due to a 2013 armed robbery.
At the time, Diabes reported to police that $500,000 in cash and 22 gold bars were stolen from his home.
The gold bars, which are each stamped with a distinct serial number, were eventually returned to Diabes when four suspects were caught with them.
The serial numbers on the gold bars match the four found in Mendez’s home during the FBI raid.
The Senator also allegedly accepted luxury watches from Diabes after making positive statements to a company in Qatar, so the property developer could receive an investment worth millions.
“The allegations against me are just that — allegations,” Menendez said at the time.
The senator, whose reputation has been previously marred by accusations of accepting lavish gifts in return for political favors, managed to sidestep conviction in 2015 after a mistrial was declared.
Prosecutors eventually abandoned their case against him.
The 70-year-old Democrat holds a significant position as a committee chairman and has been a senator since 2006.
The trial against Mendez, his wife, and two other co-defendants is set for May.
