Disgraced ex-Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was convicted last year on federal bribery and corruption charges and faces a sentencing hearing near the end of the month.

According to filings from federal prosecutors last week, Menendez should be sentenced to serve 15 years in federal prison for his crimes, the Associated Press reported.

Attorneys for the convicted former New Jersey senator have asked the presiding judge for leniency, but it must be noted that the recommended sentence from prosecutors is well short of the potential maximum sentences Menendez could face for each of the 16 criminal counts he was convicted of.

Convicted of all counts, faced more than two centuries behind bars

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York announced in Sept. 2023 that then-Sen. Menendez, along with his wife and three businessmen allies, were indicted on a plethora of bribery, corruption, and fraud charges.

Menendez, at that time the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stood accused of accepting bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a vehicle, and other items of value, in exchange for using his official position to unfairly influence and manipulate foreign policies and federal investigations to the benefit of his allies.

Following his conviction on all counts in July 2024, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release, "This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit."

"Because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end," the prosecutor added. "Corruption isn’t costless: it erodes public trust, and it undermines the rule of law. That’s why we’re so committed to fighting it, regardless of political party."

That press release listed all of the 16 charges Menendez had been convicted of -- including multiple counts of bribery, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, and conspiracy to commit all of the above -- as well as the maximum sentence for each count, which collectively totaled 222 years behind bars.

Federal prosecutors request 15 years in prison for Menendez

Despite the fact that ex-Sen. Menendez was looking at the possibility of more than two centuries worth of prison time, the AP reported that federal prosecutors submitted a filing last week that asked presiding Judge Sidney H. Stein to sentence him to just 15 years in federal prison.

"The defendants’ crimes amount to an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch, to corrupt the nation’s core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement," the prosecutors said.

"He corruptly promised to influence foreign relations, including attempting to pressure a federal agency engaged in diplomatic attempts to protect U.S. businesses from an extractive monopoly granted by a foreign nation to one of his coconspirators," the filing added. "And he corruptly promised to subvert the rule of law by disrupting multiple felony criminal proceedings, state and federal, including by influencing the selection of the chief federal law enforcement officer for New Jersey."

Menendez lawyers plead for "mercy" and no prison sentence

Just a week earlier, according to Roll Call, attorneys for Menendez had urged Judge Stein to show "leniency" and "mercy" toward the convicted felon ex-senator and argued that even two years behind bars would be too much for the 71-year-old disgraced politician.

"With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses," the attorneys wrote, and further warned that Menendez was at risk of also losing his federal and state pensions, his law license, and his government-provided health insurance if the conviction stood on appeal.

In the end, Menendez's lawyers asked the judge to strongly consider "alternatives to incarceration" such as home confinement and "rigorous community service," in light of the "penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence."