LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK — The wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez should serve at least seven years in prison for playing a pivotal role in a bribery scheme that put the New Jersey Democrat behind bars for 11 years, prosecutors told a judge Tuesday.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April, a year after her husband and two New Jersey business owners were convicted in a bribery scheme that left the Menendez couple with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash, gold bars and a luxury car. A third business owner pleaded guilty in the case and testified against the others.

In presentence arguments, prosecutors cited “damning evidence” that showed Nadine Menendez began scheming how to profit off her relationship with the senator within a day of meeting him seven year

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