Crime & Safety
Six Months Of House Arrest For Star Witness In Bob Menendez Trial
The sentencing comes more than two years after Menendez was first indicted for his role in the scheme.
October 11, 2025
A star government witness who admitted to bribing former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced to house arrest Thursday as recompense for aiding the prosecution and admitting guilt to federal charges.
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A U.S. District Court judge in New York sentenced Jose Uribe, who was one of three businessmen indicted for his role in the bribery scheme, to six months of home detention with three years of supervision, to run concurrently. He will be subject to location monitoring and barred from obtaining new credit during that time.
He was also ordered to pay $866,947 in restitution and consented to pay a $292,000 money judgment stemming from his offenses. His attorney, Daniel Fetterman, did not immediately return a request for comment.
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The sentencing comes more than two years after Menendez was first indicted for his role in the scheme.
Uribe pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery, obstruction, wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy as part of an agreement to exchange his testimony for prosecutors’ recommendation of a lenient sentence.
Together, the charges he faced carried a maximum penalty of 95 years’ imprisonment.
Uribe admitted in court to purchasing through a proxy a Mercedes-Benz for Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife, in exchange for Bob Menendez’s intervention in a growing criminal investigation against a friend and Uribe’s own insurance firm, which was operating illegally. Nadine Menendez was sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role in the bribery scheme last month.
Uribe’s testimony also helped secure convictions for Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, the other two businessmen charged over the bribery scheme. Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Daibes received seven. The two were also fined more than $1 million.
Bob Menendez is currently serving an 11-year sentence.
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