Nadine Menendez seeks last-minute delay in prison surrender

Just 90 minutes before the federal courts closed for the Independence Day holiday weekend, Nadine Menendez filed a last-minute request to postpone her July 10 surrender to federal prison, where she is scheduled to begin serving a 54-month sentence for her role in the bribery and corruption scheme that sent her husband, former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, to prison.

The request cites ongoing breast cancer-related surgeries. 

U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein was clearly annoyed with the timing.  He ordered Menendez’s attorneys to justify their delay in seeking a lengthy postponement until eight days before her scheduled surrender, directing prosecutors to respond by July 8.

In a three-page response filed Sunday, attorney Edward Canter apologized for the timing but said the delay resulted from efforts to comply with the court’s instructions at sentencing and to determine whether the Federal Bureau of Prisons would oppose a postponement.

“Counsel apologizes to the court for the disruption caused by filing this request on the eve of a holiday weekend,” Canter stated.  “The timing of the filing was driven by an effort to adhere to the Court’s instructions at sentencing and to present a complete record. It was not the result of strategic delay or any lack of urgency.”

According to the filing, defense counsel began communicating with the Bureau of Prisons shortly after entering the case in April, supplying medical records related to Menendez’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. The bureau later advised the defense to file its request directly with the court and, on June 25, provided written confirmation that it would not oppose a delay in her surrender.

“Upon receipt of the medical information provided, the BOP does not oppose the requested delay of Ms. Mendendez surrender date to allow her to receive the medical care that her doctors have recommended,” said Rick Stover, special assistant to the director of the Bureau of Prisons. “We obviously defer to the court as to any decision regarding this matter.”

Canter said the defense then waited for an updated letter from Menendez’s treating physician, who was traveling in Japan, before notifying prosecutors on July 1 and filing the motion the following afternoon.

The filing also reveals that the defense had to correct what Canter described as “some initial confusion” over Menendez’s medical treatment.  He acknowledged that a misunderstanding about which June 10 procedures had actually been performed “was communicated to BOP,” saying that was “a further reason counsel took care to confirm the details and gather supporting documentation before finalizing the motion.”

Canter said Menendez “respects the sentence imposed by the Court and does not seek to avoid it through this request.”

“She only seeks to move her surrender date so that she can finish the cancer-related surgeries that are currently underway.”

He added that she “is making every arrangement to surrender should the Court deny relief.”

Canter said the defense was not seeking an open-ended delay.  Instead, it proposed a September status conference and an October control date, allowing Stein to receive an update on Menendez’s medical condition after her next surgery while retaining oversight over the timing of her surrender.

The attorney said the proposed schedule would provide “a close-to-real-time report on the September surgery with the Court retaining oversight over any further scheduling.”

Menendez played a considerable role in the downfall of her husband and co-conspirator.

After a separate trial, a jury found Nadine Menendez guilty on 15 charges, among them bribery, obstruction of justice, and helping her husband become an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, on April 11, 2025. She was sentenced to 54 months on September 11, 2025.

Last month, Stein rejected her June bid to remain free on bail while she appeals.

Menendez was accused of facilitating the connections between her husband and his bribers, and she herself financially benefited from the transactions, most famously in her receipt of a Mercedes-Benz.

Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11-years in prison and began serving his sentence on June 17, 2025.