A New Jersey businessman accused of bribing New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez in exchange for political favors pleaded guilty to several federal charges in the case on Friday.
Jose Uribe pleaded guilty to seven counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery, tax evasion and wire fraud. He also agreed to cooperate with federal officials as a condition of the plea deal.
Prosecutors allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine, took bribes from Uribe and two other businessmen to enrich them, interfere in criminal proceedings and provide benefits to the Egyptian government. They say Uribe gave the Menendezes a Mercedes-Benz convertible worth more than $60,000 after Nadine lost her car in a crash. In return, they allege, the senator tried to interfere in a criminal prosecution against one of Uribe’s associates and an investigation into one of his employees.
Menendez and his wife have both pleaded not guilty to charges against them and deny any wrongdoing. The other businessmen — real estate developer Fred Daibes, and Wael Hana, who owns a halal meat certification business in New Jersey — have also pleaded not guilty.
“Typically, prosecutors are not going to enter into a deal like this unless they’ve secured the cooperation of the codefendant,” said Bob Bianchi, a former prosecutor for Morris County who now runs a legal defense firm. “We just don’t know what the parameters of this whole situation [are]. But if I were Sen. Menendez’s attorney, I would look at it as a very ominous sign.”
The indictment against Uribe describes him as a businessman who lives in New Jersey and works in the trucking and insurance business. He has a prior fraud conviction, according to prosecutors, and also had his insurance broker’s license revoked in the past. He is friends with Hana and began developing a relationship with Menendez and his wife in 2018, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said that in exchange for the Mercedes Benz, Menendez pressured an official with the New Jersey…
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