Nadine Menendez, the wife of New Jersey’s former senator, was sentenced on Thursday to four and a half years in prison for her role in a scheme to trade her husband’s political clout for cash, gold and a Mercedes-Benz.
In an emotional address before the judge imposed the sentence, Ms. Menendez, 58, laid blame for much of her conduct on her husband, Robert Menendez, once one of the country’s most powerful Democrats.
“I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet,” she said through tears.
“He was my god,” she added. “I felt safe following him through life. He was one of the most powerful men in the most powerful country in the world. There was no way he would lead me astray or ask me to do anything illegal — or so I thought.”
“The blindfold is off,” she concluded. “I now know he is not my savior. He is not the man I thought he was.”
The judge, Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court, largely dismissed her effort to distance herself from the crimes, calling her a “central participant.”
“You knew what you were doing,” he said. “You were always purposeful.”
“You set up meetings. You initiated actions. You involved others,” he added.
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The post Nadine Menendez Blames Her Husband Before Being Sentenced to 4 1/2 Years appeared first on New York Times.
