A businessman admitted he conspired to pay bribes to Sen. Bob Menendez, including getting the Democrat’s wife a luxury convertible. According to the plea deal, the key co-defendant will now cooperate with prosecutors in their case against New Jersey’s senior senator. NBC New York’s Jonathan Dienst reports.
A co-defendant in the alleged corruption investigation into New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez who was accused of giving the senator's wife a luxury convertible has agreed to plead guilty and will cooperate with prosecutors.
Businessman Jose Uribe pleaded guilty to seven counts in connection with the alleged corruption probe, including conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and more.
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Menendez, a Democrat, and his wife stand accused of taking bribes of gold bars, a luxury car and cash in exchange for using his outsized sway in foreign affairs to help the government of Egypt — and others — as well as other corrupt acts, according to an indictment that came down in Sept. 2023.
Uribe is a New Jersey businessman in the trucking and insurance business who was friends with fellow defendant Wael Hana, according to an indictment. Hana and Uribe allegedly got Nadine Menendez a Mercedes convertible after the senator called a government official about another case involving an associate of Uribe, according to the indictment.
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“Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” Nadine Menendez texted her husband, along with a heart emoji, after they got the vehicle.
Uribe was accused of buying a luxury car for Nadine Menendez after her previous car was destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing the street. She did not face criminal charges in connection with that crash.
Uribe allegedly gave the Mercedes to Menendez and his wife as he sought help with a criminal investigation into his associates being run out of the New Jersey state attorney general’s office. In exchange, Menendez is accused of calling then-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal directly about the matter.
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Uribe agreed to cooperate with the prosecution looking into the allegations against New Jersey's senior senator and will testify against Menendez. In his hearing before a judge on Friday, Uribe admitted to giving the car to Nadine Menendez "in return for Senator Menendez using his power and influence...to get a favorable outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates."
He also admitted the car was given as part of an effort to halt a different investigation "into another person who I considered to be a member of my family." Uribe said he tried to hide the payments he made on the luxury vehicle "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."
Uribe provided more information about his involvement in the alleged obstruction of justice crimes from June 2022 to 2023 during his plea. In the agreement he reached with prosecutors, Uribe must "truthfully and completely disclose all information with the respect to the activities of himself and others concerning all matters about which this Office inquires of him."
Read the full plea deal agreement below:
Uribe is one of three businessmen from whom the couple is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, along with Hana and Fred Daibes. After he got a subpoena relating to Menendez, Uribe said he met with Nadine Menendez at a Marriott hotel, where she questioned him about what he would say about the car payments.
"I told her that I would say a good friend of mine was in a financial situation and I was helping that friend make the payments on the car, and when she was financially stable, she will pay me back," Uribe said in court Friday. He said Nadine approved of his plan at the time.
He said he later told his attorneys the same version of what happened and they transmitted that “false story” to prosecutors with his approval. In late 2022, Uribe said he got a check from Nadine Menendez paying him back for the car payments, which he deposited.
Menendez, his wife and all of the other defendants have pleaded not guilty. Uribe previously pleaded not guilty in October, but in a surprise switch, changed his plea on Friday during a hearing the media had not been informed about before it happened.
Menendez is also accused of helping another New Jersey business associate get a lucrative deal with the government of Egypt. Prosecutors allege that in exchange for bribes, Menendez did things that benefited Egypt, including ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid.
Menendez also has been charged with using his international clout to help a friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, including by taking actions favorable to Qatar's government.
Uribe remains free on a $1 million bond, which was set when he was arrested. His plea deal, dated Thursday, was signed by him on Friday.
Uribe's attorney, Daniel Fetterman, declined to comment. David Schertler, a lawyer for Nadine Menendez, also declined to comment.
An attorney for the senator said in a statement that the plea deal does not change anything for his client.
"Senator Menendez has spent months detailing the law and the evidence that demonstrate that charges should never have been filed in this case. Today's news of Mr. Uribe's change of plea does not change the core truth: Sen. Menendez is innocent and the prosecutors have got it wrong," the statement from attorney Adam Fee read. "Sen. Menendez continues to look forward to proving his innocence to a jury."
According to a plea agreement, Uribe could face up to 95 years in prison, though he could win leniency by cooperating and testifying against the other defendants, which he's agreed to do. He also agreed to forfeit $246,000, representing proceeds traceable to his crimes.
