Former Sen. Bob Menendez, a veteran Democratic legislator who represented New Jersey from 2006 through his resignation last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty on charges of bribery and acting as an agent for a foreign government.

A lawyer for Bob Menendez has asked a judge to sentence the former U.S. senator to no more than eight years in prison, requesting leniency for a man he said was now known as "gold bar Bob" for the gold bars and cash bribes found in his home.