The wife of former US Senator Robert Menendez has been sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison for aiding her husband in a bribery scheme involving stacks of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April of 15 counts, including bribery, after jurors found she acted as a conduit for her husband and Egyptian officials, relaying messages and arranging meetings.

“I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet,” she told the judge, sobbing, before her sentencing on Thursday.

Her husband was convicted last year and sentenced to 11 years for the scheme that also led to his political downfall. Prosecutors had described her as indispensable to the plot.

On Thursday morning, Menendez wept as she addressed the judge.

“I now know, he’s not my saviour. He’s not the man I thought he was,” she told the judge referring to her husband, a NY Daily News reporter at the court posted on X.

“He was one of the most powerful men in the most powerful country on earth and there was no way he’d lead me astray or lead me to do anything illegal, or so I thought.”

At the time of the scheme, Robert Menendez was the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a powerful role that gave him significant influence over US foreign policy.

Prosecutors said the couple exploited his position to secretly aid the Egyptian government’s interests in Washington. They had sought a sentence of at least seven years for Ms Menendez.

District Judge Sidney H Stein instead sentenced her to 54 months, saying the prison term was important to deter others from possibly committing similar crimes.

“People have to understand there are consequences,” Judge Stein said.

The judge decided Menendez will not have to begin serving her sentence until next summer, 10 July, so that she can complete necessary medical procedures before she heads behind bars, according to the Associated Press.

Nadine Menendez was diagnosed with breast cancer after the original indictments, and so she stood trial later than her husband and after she underwent surgery. She wore a face mask and pin to court during the proceedings to promote breast cancer awareness.

A 2022 FBI search at the couple’s New Jersey home uncovered more than $100,000 (£80,000) worth of gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in envelopes or hidden in clothes.

Along with that evidence, federal prosecutors also showed the jury text messages between the couple and their associates, as well as a Google search by the former senator asking: “How much is one kilo of gold worth?”.

Fred Daibes, a New Jersey property developer, and Wael Hana, the Egyptian-born operator of a halal certification company, were also charged and convicted for their roles.

Insurance broker Jose Uribe pleaded guilty in March 2024 to charges related to the corrupt scheme.