(TheRedAlertNews.com) – Things are not looking good for US Senator Bob Menendez, though they are looking up for justice, as a businessman and a former aide of the politician has agreed to testify against the high-profile Democrat in a major corruption and bribery case.
Jose Uribe, 56, an entrepreneur, believed to be linked with Menendez (D-NJ), entered a guilty plea on Friday to seven counts of corruption.
He has also agreed to testify against Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez is accused of accepting bribes amounting to several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Uribe confessed his guilt in charges that include conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and tax evasion.
He also confessed to providing Menendez’s wife, Nadine, with a Mercedes-Benz, expecting that the senator would leverage “his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates.”
Uribe said that the vehicle was offered to prevent “a possible investigation into another person who I considered to be a member of my family,” from commencing.
“[My payment method for the car was designed] to conceal my involvement because I knew it was wrong. I knew that giving a car in return for influencing a United States senator to stop a criminal investigation was wrong, and I deeply regret my actions,” the businessman declared, as cited by The Daily Wire.
Uribe faces the possibility of a 95-year prison sentence and is required to surrender $246,000.
He is now set to testify against Menendez, who is confronting charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Prosecutors assert that Menendez and his wife were involved in a corrupt exchange with businessmen Wael Hana, Uribe, and Fred Daibes.
They are alleged to have provided the senator with bribes valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Department of Justice claims these bribes were aimed at safeguarding the businessmen’s interests and advancing the interests of Egypt.
“The bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” according to the indictment.
It has been reported that authorities discovered gold bars and cash hidden in various locations within the senator’s home.
Furthermore, Menendez is implicated in drafting a letter to fellow senators, encouraging them to lift a freeze on $300 million in military aid to Egypt.
This letter is said to have been crafted in partnership with his wife and the businessmen in question.
The trial for Menendez along with his co-defendants is set to commence on May 5.
