George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said that Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey may die in prison because of the potential time he faces after his Tuesday guilty conviction.
A jury convicted Menendez of federal corruption and bribery charges over his involvement in a bribery and corruption scheme with three New Jersey businessmen and the Egyptian government. Turley on “America Reports” said based on Menendez’s advanced age and the sentencing guidelines for the crimes, there is a significant chance he will perish behind bars, especially because he didn’t plead guilty. (RELATED: Senator Indicted On Corruption Charges To File As Independent Ahead Of Reelection Bid: REPORT)
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‘Could Very Well Be A Death Sentence’: Jonathan Turley Says Bob Menendez Faces Long Prison Stay After Conviction pic.twitter.com/tUwZiFyAtJ
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“I think he is also someone who views his position in New Jersey as holding political sway over his Democratic colleagues. He’s someone who basically is a margin player, he looks for ways to get a better deal,” Turley said. “He may even think that by threatening the democratic control of the Senate as running as a spoiler, the Biden administration may seek to reach a more accommodating deal. But he’s looking at 222 years on these charges.”
“Now that’s a maximum of 20 years each so he’s not going to look at anything like that in reality,” he continued. “These are charges that will run concurrently, but he is looking at a very significant amount of time. And at his age, that could very well be a death sentence. You know, people age faster in prison. So it’s a lengthy sentence for Senator Menendez could very well be a terminal sentence.”
Menendez announced in March that he will not run as a Democrat, officially filing as an independent candidate in June. He is running against Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez to resign his seat because of the guilty verdict, saying it is “what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country” in a post on X.
“And so I think he’s going to try to see what deals he may still be able to eke out, but he doesn’t have much to bargain with,” Turley added. “He didn’t plead guilty. There’s an aggregator in sentencing for someone who betrays a public office. An office of trust. So even though he is a first offender, he is elderly. There are things here that will work to his advantage on sentencing.”
“The biggest problem is that he betrayed his office, he betrayed the public and he did not plead guilty,” he said. “So, the sentencing guidelines are going to hit him pretty hard. It’s one of those situations where the judge looks at you and says, ‘may God have mercy on your soul because I will have none’ because there’s not a lot of wiggle room here in the sentencing guidelines.”
Menendez was indicted on March 5 after an investigation and search of his New Jersey home, where authorities found over $480,000 in cash hidden throughout the property, a luxury vehicle and over $100,000 of gold bars.
Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife, was also indicted. Her trial has been postponed indefinitely, The Hill reported.
“The problem here is that you can’t escape the image of gold bars and cash stuffed in your drawers, in your pajamas saying that this is just a Cuban thing? It was never going to go over very well. The jury viewed it very obviously as a corruption thing and could not get beyond that,” Turley said earlier in the segment.
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