WASHINGTON — One of the three men federal prosecutors have accused of orchestrating a scheme from roughly 2018 to 2023 to bribe Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, pleaded guilty Friday, pledging to cooperate with government investigators.
Jose Uribe, an insurance broker, had been accused of financing a Mercedez-Benz convertible and providing it to the senator’s wife, Nadine, in exchange for the senator’s help intervening in an insurance fraud investigation.
Uribe pleaded guilty to seven counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, according to court records unsealed Friday.
Uribe pledged to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation, according to the plea agreement.
Menendez spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.
Uribe was indicted in September with two other businessmen, including real estate developer and political donor Fred Daibes, for bribing Menendez in exchange for political favors to aid the government of Egypt. Prosecutors updated their case in January, accusing the senator of also taking payments in exchange for performing political actions to benefit Qatar.
All four other defendants, including the senator, have pleaded not guilty.
In a fiery speech on the Senate floor last month, Menendez maintained his innocence and said he has never acted as an agent for Egypt or Qatar.
“I have never violated the public trust,” said Menendez, who has asked for the case to be dismissed. “I am entirely innocent of the charges.”
The Menendezes have asked for separate trials, a move that would guard them from testifying against one another.
Two weeks ago, prosecutors filed new papers with the court, saying Menendez in late 2020 and early 2021 pressed mayors in New Jersey, as the COVID-19 pandemic was killing thousands of Americans daily, to use a testing laboratory with which his wife was associated to screen for COVID-19 infections.
The judge in the case, Sidney Stein, set June 14 as Uribe’s sentencing date. Trial for the remaining four defendants is scheduled to begin in May.
— Editor’s note: Story by Benjamin J. Hulac; video report by Briana Vannozzi
