Charged with illegally funneling almost $100,000 into the campaign of Sen. Robert Menendez, a Bergen County New Jersey residen was sentenced to a five-year prison term. The Defendant is a 46-year-old insurance broker in Bergen County. According to court documents, the defendant pleaded guilty to using 19 straw donors to contribute almost $100,000 to Sen. Robert Menendez campaign.
Sen. Robert Menendez’s campaign said they had no idea about this scheme, and no accusation of wrongdoing has been leveled against the senator or his campaign staff. After becoming aware of this incident, Sen. Menendez’s campaign decided to donate a sum of money equal to that which was illegally donated to them, to charity. The Defendant, is also charged with hiding the amount of money that he had earned between the years 1999 in 2009. He had also failed to file tax returns between 1999 and 2009. These tax returns were for millions of dollars of income.
Starting in the year 2009, the Defendant did start to file some of his back taxes. However, even though he was living an extremely expensive lifestyle, he was unable to pay the remaining liability. The sentence that the defendant received includes prison time, three years supervision after release, and a fine of $2.1 million which is to be paid to the government as restoration.
This type of conduct has become very common over the years, therefore, there is no surprise that the prosecution has taken such a harsh approach when it comes to prosecuting these type of charges. If you or someone you know is facing criminal charges in New Jersey, whether it be for aggravated assault, shoplifting, death by auto or driving while intoxicated, the Law Offices of Marshall, Bonus, Proetta & Oliver can help. Please feel free to contact any one of our Bergen County Offices for a free initial consultation with any one of our eight criminal defense attorneys on staff.