Bhalla reacts to 11-year sentence for Bob Menendez: ‘Justice has been served’

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, in reaction to the 11-year prison sentence for former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, says that “justice has been served.”

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“The sentencing of Bob Menendez today underscores that no one person, including one of the most powerful elected officials in the country, is ever above the law. Justice has been served, and we can now close the door on a dark period in Hudson County and New Jersey’s history,” he said in a statement.

Bhalla is of course no friend to the former senior senator of New Jersey’s family in recent memory, running a smash mouth campaign against U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8), Bob Menendez’s son, in June, highlighting the corruption case early and often.

He ended up losing by approximately 15 points and is now seeking a state Assembly seat in the 32nd Legislative District, which consists of Jersey City’s Wards C, D, and E and Hoboken – areas he all won handily in the congressional race.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York had sought a 15-year sentence, while Menendez’s legal team sought eight years during a sentencing hearing in Manhattan before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein.

His co-defendants, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, were sentenced to seven and eight years, respectively.

Menendez, who has vowed to appeal the case, raised eyebrows during closing his remarks outside the courthouse yesterday when he brought President Donald Trump (R) into the mix.

“Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” he stated.

NBC News has since reported that Menendez is seeking clemency from Trump, citing sources familiar with the matter who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

This situation drew a stiff rebuke from Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon, a candidate for mayor, who took took umbrage with “his pathetic groveling to Trump,” as HCV exclusively reported.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor who has been a political nemesis of Bob Menendez since he ran against him for Congress in 2004, noting their history in a post on X yesterday.

Menendez was convicted of accepting gold bars, cash, and a new car in exchange for intervening in matters for Daibes and Hana.

He was also convicted of acting as a foreign agent to Egypt and trying to help facilitate a development deal between the Qatar government and Daibes.

Despite Menendez being a former Union City mayor and Hudson County Democratic Organization chair, no other electeds have weighed in on his sentencing as of this writing.