New Jersey Senator Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for bribery and acting as a foreign agent, after breaking down in tears and pleading for mercy from the presiding district judge during the dramatic hearing. 

Menendez, who has maintained his innocence, plans to appeal the verdict. 

“For a man who spent his entire life in public service, every day I am awake is a punishment,” said Menendez, who was chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a role, prosecutors argued, he misused to benefit himself with gold bars and stacks of cash.

“Somewhere along the way you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” Judge Stein told him before he sentenced him to 11 years behind bars. “I don’t know what led you to this — greed was certainly part of it,” the federal judge added. “But that can’t be it, I don’t think that explains everything. Hubris was part of it, I don’t know. You’ll have to try to figure that out yourself over time.” 

Menendez, 71, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was born to Cuban immigrants and got his start in politics in Union City, before becoming one of the most powerful men in the senate. 

In July, Menendez was found guilty on 16 federal felony charges related to a bribery scheme involving the governments of Egyptian and Qatar, making him the first senator in U.S. history to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign power. Other charges included extortion, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Menendez resigned in August.

Two co-defendants, who were convicted of paying bribes to the New Jersey senator, were also sentenced on Wednesday. The real estate developer Fred Diabes was hit with a seven year prison sentence and a $1.75 million fine. The Egyptian American businessman Wael Hana, who runs a halal certification business, received a sentence of eight years. A third co-defendant, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and testified during the trial against the three men. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the spring.

Uribe testified, among other things, that he helped the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, get a Mercedes-Benz convertible after the senator pressured state prosecutors to drop a criminal investigation against one of his associates.

Ms. Menendez, who also faces charges in the alleged corruption scheme, asked to postpone her trial due to breast cancer treatment she stated she is currently receiving. Her trial is now set to begin on March 18. Judge Stein wants the senator to be present for his wife’s trial, where he will testify. “I want him to be able to be present for his wife,” the judge said. 

Since the trial is expected to last about 10 weeks, Menendez will remain free until June 6, when he must surrender to authorities by 2 p.m. His attorneys are seeking bail while he appeals the verdict. 

The emotional sentence hearing on Wednesday lasted for two hours. First the defense attorney, Adam Fee, spoke at length, asking the judge to show compassion and to consider that the “good outweighs the bad in the arch of Bob’s life,” a journey that “reflects the promise of the American Dream.”  

“I urge compassion,” Mr. Fee insisted and cited over 130 letters people had sent to the judge, describing how the senator had helped them in their times of need. “He does not deserve to die in jail,” the defense attorney pleaded.  

When Menendez took the opportunity to address the court, he broke down sobbing. “Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he said.   

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni reiterated that Menendez had been guilty of acting as an agent to a foreign power. “Our government doesn’t work if its leaders betray the public trust,” the prosecutor argued. 

In the explosive indictment against Menendez, a Democrat, federal prosecutors alleged that Menendez used his official powers to benefit the governments of Egypt and of Qatar, and three businessmen in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, including gold bars and a Mercedes Benz. FBI agents discovered $480,000 in cash at Menendez’s home, some of it stuffed into boots and bags and pockets of clothing hanging in his closets. 

“He abused privilege,” Mr. Monteleoni argued before the judge on Wednesday. “And he did so for years.” The prosecutor added that Menendez “absolutely did some good.” But that “using his power to help people was what he was elected to do.”   

Prosecutors further alleged that Menendez provided Egyptian officials with sensitive information about the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. They also charged him for aiding the American Egyptian businessman Hana, a friend of Menendez’s ex wife, in creating a Halal meat certification monopoly that Hana had established with the Egyptian government. 

“Senator Menendez, you’re the most corrupt politician in New Jersey!” a man yelled outside the courthouse as the senator addressed reporters. 

Alex Ruiz, 49, used to work at the Armenian church center that Bob Menendez and his wife were part of, “for 15 years I was a super,” Mr. Ruiz told the Sun. 

Meanwhile, Menendez told reporters that the indictment is a political witch hunt.   

“This whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt,” Menendez said. “Welcome to the Southern District of New York. The wild west of political prosecutions. President Trump is right. This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope he cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.” 

NBC news reported last week that Menendez is seeking a pardon from President Trump after President Biden refused to pardon him. The two men, NBC wrote, who used to be colleagues, in the senate disagreed on issues like Iran and immigration policies.

President Biden’s rejection to pardon Menendez could sway President Trump to grant clemency. But the senator voted to convict Trump during both of his impeachment trials. It is unclear how President Trump views the case.