Disgraced Democrat ex-Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), 71, is already serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison following his bribery conviction last year, and now his wife will soon be spending time behind bars as well.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was sentenced on Thursday to serve four and a half years in federal prison following her own conviction in April for bribery and other charges, according to The Hill.

The married couple was both found guilty of conspiring to accept bribes, including cash, gold bars, a luxury vehicle, and other items of value, in exchange for political favors from the once-powerful and influential New Jersey senator.

Sentenced to prison

According to a Justice Department press release, Nadine Menendez was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein to serve 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, following her conviction in April on federal charges that included bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses.

She was accused of being the intermediary for her husband and three business associates, and was often the recipient of the bribes paid for the senator's use of political favors and influence, which included cash, gold bars, a luxury vehicle, home mortgage payments, home furnishings, a fake job, and other things of value.

"The defendant and her partner in crime, former Senator Robert Menendez, engaged in the most brazen form of public corruption -- gold bars, cash, and a luxury car in exchange for a Senator’s power," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said of the sentencing. "Today’s sentence sends an important message: our elected officials are not for sale."

Husband, wife point fingers at one another

The Associated Press reported that Nadine Menendez sought to blame her husband, who was "not the man I thought he was," for the trouble she was in during her sentencing hearing on Thursday.

She claimed the disgraced ex-senator was a "manipulative liar" who "strung me like a puppet" and coerced or tricked her through his power and stature into committing crimes on his behalf, which was quite different from the argument put forward by her husband and two associates during last year's trial, in which they argued that she was "the true force behind the conspiracies."

Interestingly enough, even though they both cast aspersions and threw each other under the bus during their respective trials, Nadine told reporters following her sentencing that she has no plans to get divorced from her incarcerated husband.

Judge offered some leniency

According to the AP, Nadine Menendez's attorneys asked that she be sentenced to just one year and one day, while prosecutors had requested a seven-year sentence from the judge, who appears to have split the difference with four and a half years.

Judge Stein explained that his leniency was due to the tough trial she had endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, prior abusive relationships, her age, and her health conditions, as she is currently battling breast cancer, which is part of the reason why she faced trial separately from her husband and their associates.

That said, she still deserved to serve time in prison, the judge said, because "People have to understand there are consequences."

Prison reporting date delayed

The Hill reported that, just prior to the sentencing hearing, a letter was submitted to the court from Nadine Menendez's plastic surgeon that detailed certain complications with earlier surgeries that would require additional procedures to "alleviate her debilitating and unremitting pain," as well as several months of recovery time afterward.

As such, per the AP, Judge Stein set July 10, 2026, as the date by which she must report to prison to begin serving her sentence, granting her time to address the pending health issues, to which the prosecution did not object.