By TRACEY TULLY and BENJAMIN WEISER NYTimes News Service
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NEW YORK — Bob Menendez, New Jersey’s disgraced former senator who was once one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison after being convicted of being at the center of an audacious international bribery scheme.

The courtroom in lower Manhattan was packed but silent as Judge Sidney H. Stein of U.S. District Court imposed one of the longest sentences ever issued for a federal official in the United States.

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Menendez wept intermittently as he addressed the court before the sentence was announced. He has said that he planned to appeal the jury’s guilty verdict but told Stein that he stood before him a “chastened man” who had suffered the ignominy of a guilty verdict and the resignation of his Senate seat.

“Every day I’m awake is a punishment,” Menendez, 71, said.

After the sentencing concluded, Menendez addressed a crowd of reporters and onlookers outside the courthouse.

Chastened no more, he offered a scathing indictment of the justice system and what appeared to be a direct appeal to President Donald Trump, who has the power to pardon him.

“President Trump is right,” he said. “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.”

When he was indicted 16 months ago, Menendez served as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the most powerful perches in Washington.

Menendez was found guilty in July on all 16 counts he faced, including bribery, extortion, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and acting as an agent for Egypt.