A jury determined that Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was guilty on several charges related to accusations of bribery and corruption on Tuesday.
The jury had been deliberating for 13 hours beginning Friday on the 16 counts filed against Menendez.
The charges against Menendez included conspiracy, bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt while the senator was a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Prosecutors said that the senator had received gold bars and even a Mercedes-Benz vehicle in exchange for political influence. They also found nearly half a million dollars in cash at his residence.
Some of the charges on their own may result in a prison term of up to 20 years.
Menendez had maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The Democrat had served in the Senate since 2006 but said that he would no longer run in a Democrat primary and would return as an “independent Democrat” if he were able to run again.
His attorney previously said that the charges “stink of desperation.”
Other Democrats have called for Menendez to resign over the bribery allegations.
“We have a colleague in the Senate that’s actually done much more sinister kinds of things. He needs to go,” said Sen. John Fetterman (Penn.). “Menendez is really a senator for Egypt, not New Jersey.”
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