A federal judge has rejected former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's attempt to overturn his corruption conviction, which stems from a trial where jurors were given access to improper evidence. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein made this ruling on Wednesday, emphasizing that it is "extraordinarily unlikely" the jurors were aware of the unredacted material provided, which included evidence that should have been excluded from the trial.

Menendez, convicted in July on 16 counts, including bribery and serving as an agent of a foreign government, argued that the inclusion of this material undermined the fairness of his trial. However, Judge Stein's written opinion indicated that both the prosecution and the defense bore responsibility for ensuring that only appropriate evidence was considered, as neither side noticed the redacted material before it was presented to the jury. According to Stein, any claims of prejudice from this oversight were unfounded, given the extensive evidence reviewed during the nine-week trial according to AP News.

The judge noted that because the defense teams had also waived their objections to the errors and had not raised concerns prior to jury deliberations, their motions for a new trial were denied. He added that "the extra-record material was a few phrases buried in thousands of exhibits," suggesting that the jurors most likely did not even see the potentially prejudicial information reported by Reuters.

As proceedings advance toward sentencing, federal prosecutors are recommending a 15-year prison term for Menendez, who has faced significant personal and professional fallout since the charges were brought against him in 2023. This includes the discovery of large sums of cash and gold bars during an FBI raid on his residence, which prosecutors claim were received as bribes for political favors according to The Hill.

The former senator, who has spent 18 and a half years in office, is scheduled for sentencing on January 29, 2024. While prosecutors assert that the severity of his actions warrants a lengthy prison sentence, Menendez's lawyers argue for a significantly lighter sentence, indicating their belief that the punishment should reflect the circumstances of his case.