 Lawyers for Menendez will get one last chance to try to convince the jury that the government hasn't proven that New Jersey's senior senator sold out his office in exchange for gold bars, wads of cash, and a Mercedes. Prosecutors will get a final word, too. The charges are among the most serious ever brought against a sitting senator. The veteran Democrat is the first to be charged under our nation's foreign agent statute. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years behind bars.