A New Jersey town is changing the name of its Robert Menendez Elementary School after the Senator was convicted on 18 charges last week.
Menendez was found guilty of bribery, conspiracy, fraud, making false statements and other charges on July 16. The decision brought an end to a nine-week federal corruption trial.
The elementary school in West New York was named after the senator in 2013 by the mayor at the time, Felix Roque. The school will be returning to its original name: PS #3.
“We’re going to take the name down before the school year starts,” Mayor Albio Sires told the New Jersey Globe.
Roque originally changed the name of the school to make amends with Menendez after he endorsed his Republican opponent, Joe Kyrillos, in the 2012 election.
This is not the first time a convicted politician’s name has been removed from a New Jersey institution. The Harrison A. Wiliams, Jr. Metropark train station in Iselin was named after the senator, who championed transportation causes.
Williams was then convicted on federal charges in 1981. New Jersey Transit changed the name of the station several years later.
Menendez, who was first elected to Senate in 2006, maintained his innocence after the conviction.
“I never violated my public oath,” the senator said on the courthouse steps. “I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
Menendez is expected to resign from the Senate next month. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will appoint someone to take his seat. No successor has been named yet, but some possible choices include New Jersey Democratic Representative Andy Kim, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, Garden State Equality Executive Director Christian Fuscarino, progressive community leader Loretta Weinberg, political insider Jeannine LaRue and chair of New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission Dianne Houenou.
Menendez is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29.
New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes were also found guilty on all charges in the trial.
The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in the scheme. She was originally scheduled to be tried alongside her husband, but her trial was delayed until next month due to health problems. Robert Menendez revealed his wife was battling breast cancer in May, just as his trial was beginning.
Robert Menendez was also tried for corruption in 2017, but that trial resulted in a hung jury.
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