“She did nothing to come and render any aid. She moved her car out of the way, but she never came — for the entire length of the video that I was given, she never came to look at him, didn’t even she — never check to see if he’s alive,” attorney Sheri Breen said.
An attorney for Nadine Menendez did not return calls seeking comment. Police said she was not at fault for the crash, as Koop apparently jaywalked on his way home after a night of drinking with friends.
Sen. Menendez seemed to comment publicly on the crash for the first time Wednesday, calling it “tragic.”
The crash appears to be linked to the bribery charges against the Menendezes. The FBI alleges the couple turned to New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe for help replacing the Mercedes-Benz damaged in the collision.
In exchange, feds said, Menendez agreed to try to pressure the state attorney general’s office about a past criminal investigation Uribe was concerned about. The couple and three businessmen charged in the sprawling bribery case deny wrongdoing, and all have pleaded not guilty.
The FBI said that businessman Fred Daibes gave gold bars and money to Sen. Menendez and that, in exchange, he allegedly wanted the senator’s help in pressuring the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office to go easy on him regarding his separate bank fraud charges.
Daibes later took a plea deal with an expected sentence of no jail time, but a judge in New Jersey threw the deal out on Thursday.
“The Court hereby rejects the plea agreement,” U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton wrote in a filing.
Lawyers for Daibes did not reply to requests for comment.
Federal prosecutors said Monday some additional charges could soon be filed in the bribery case.
Jonathan Dienst
Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
Tom Winter
Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
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