New Jersey
A luxury car for bullying the A.G.? Menendez jurors hear about a deal to 'kill all investigation' • New Jersey Monitor
Four weeks into Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial in Manhattan, jurors have heard barely a peep about the co-defendant who pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him.
That changed Wednesday, when prosecutors spent the day explaining failed insurance broker Jose Uribe’s role in what they call a many-tentacled bribery scheme, laying the foundation for former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to testify Thursday.
Prosecutors say Menendez, New Jersey’s senior senator, called and met with Grewal several times in 2019 in a bid to stop a state insurance fraud investigation and prosecution into Uribe’s friends.
In exchange, Uribe hosted a July 2018 fundraiser for the senator in Cliffside Park and spent tens of thousands of dollars on a new Mercedes-Benz convertible for the senator’s wife, Nadine, who needed a car to replace one she totaled in December 2018, according to testimony Wednesday.
“The deal is to kill and stop all investigation,” Uribe texted his friend Wael Hana, who prosecutors said connected him with the couple.
The senator’s alleged attempt to strong-arm Grewal didn’t work — trucking company owner Elvis Parra, who was scheduled to stand trial in April 2019 for bilking nearly $389,000 from an insurance carrier, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and got sentenced to probation.
Yet Uribe, who covered the $15,000 down payment on the $67,000-plus Mercedes, continued paying monthly bills on the car — to the tune of about $30,000 — until FBI agents searched the Menendezes’ home in June 2022 as part of their corruption probe.
“The car is home,” Nadine texted the senator after signing paperwork for it at the dealership on April 5, 2019.
“Woopy!!!” the senator texted back.
To Uribe, she texted: “You are a miracle worker who makes dreams come true. I will always remember that.”
Prosecutor Paul Monteleoni methodically presented hundreds of texts, emails, calls, and other documents Wednesday, through questioning FBI Special Agent Rachel Graves, that showed Uribe began texting Nadine Menendez so frequently for access to the senator that within months, she called him “family.”
“I will not let you down. You are family,” Nadine Menendez assured Uribe by text when it appeared the state investigation was proceeding.
The senator called Grewal in early September 2019 and two days later met him and Andrew Bruck in a meeting that was conspicuously missing from his official Senate calendar, testimony showed. Bruck was Grewal’s executive assistant attorney general and briefly succeeded him when Grewal left in July 2021 to become director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of enforcement.
After that meeting, the senator texted his wife: “Done.” Uribe later texted a friend and told him that he met with Menendez — whom he called “the Amigo” — at his apartment after the Grewal meeting, and the senator reported feeling “very positive” about it, testimony showed.
In a day of a dizzying amount of exhibits, prosecutors continued trying to dismantle defense attorneys’ claim that Menendez didn’t know much of what his wife did, showing text exchanges both banal and suggestive that he was well-aware of her doings. They also have repeatedly referred to his frequent use of a Find My Friends tracking app to check on Nadine’s whereabouts.
Wednesday’s testimony revealed other tantalizing tidbits that promise to make Nadine Menendez’s trial interesting. She’s not set to be tried until at least July, after Judge Sidney H. Stein granted her request for a delay so she could get needed medical treatment.
Texts showed that Nadine had a flip phone she used for sensitive communications that she called her “007 cell number.” On her loan application for the Mercedes, she said she was “self-employed,” listed her occupation as “vice president,” and reported an income of $197,000.
The December 12, 2018, night she totaled her Mercedes, she was on her way to see Rosemarie Sorce, the wife of a real estate developer and a Menendez donor, according to testimony.
She texted Sorce at 7:28 p.m. that she had hit detours and was just a few miles away — and six minutes later, texted again: “911 call me.”
“I’m sitting in an ambulance,” she texted Sorce 20 minutes later.
Police have said the collision happened at 7:35 p.m.
Nadine had hit and killed a jaywalking pedestrian in Bogota. Police did not ticket her or test her for intoxication, and she was not charged. Jurors will not hear those details, which Stein deemed prejudicial.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Besides Grewal, prosecutors told Stein they also expect to call an FBI agent who’s a fingerprint analyst.
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For Nora Corthren, the work goes far beyond organizing events or telling stories. It’s about helping people see themselves in hockey.
As the NHL’s Manager of Content, Audience Development, and Social Impact, Corthren works at the crossroads of storytelling and community engagement, helping shine a spotlight on initiatives that make our game of hockey more welcoming and inclusive. From Pride programming to the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award and Hockey Fights Cancer, her role focuses on highlighting the people and organizations making a difference throughout the hockey world.
Over the past four years, Corthren has witnessed meaningful growth across the sport.
“It really has been wonderful to just see the hockey world continue to grow and develop and become more welcoming and more diverse and more inclusive,” she said.
Much of that progress comes from grassroots organizations working to create safe and welcoming spaces for players and fans from all backgrounds. Corthren’s job often involves identifying those stories and using the NHL’s platform to amplify them.
“I think it’s something that a lot of people who do the grassroots work of trying to make the game a more inclusive and welcoming space, they don’t do it for the attention,” she said. “They very much do it for the impact.”
That ability to elevate organizations and individuals making a difference has become one of the most rewarding parts of her work.
Among the initiatives closest to Corthren’s heart is the NHL’s continued involvement in Pride celebrations, including the annual New York City Pride March. For years, the league has marched alongside local hockey organizations and teams from across the New York metropolitan area, including the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Sirens, and New York Rangers.
For Corthren, the importance of that presence cannot be overstated. Seeing the NHL shield, the NHL teams’ logos, and even, yes, NJ Devil, are important parts of representation to a marginalized community.
A notorious mob hitman who once testified against John “Junior” Gotti before cleaning up his life and becoming a councilman in New Jersey has been arrested on extortion and loansharking charges that, if proven, reflect a return to the lifestyle of his youth.
John Alite, 63, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey, where he was sworn in early last year as a councilman in the borough of Englishtown. Released after a court appearance Saturday, Alite is scheduled to return to court for a detention hearing Wednesday.
His attorney, Douglas Anton, responding to an email seeking comment, said he did not want to speak about the case before the next court appearance.
Alite faces multiple counts of extortion, corporate misconduct, loansharking and terroristic threats.
Alite provided loans at exorbitant rates before threatening violence to collect on them, authorities said, citing the discovery in his home of metal knuckles, an expandable baton, six baseball bats and about two dozen knives, including switchblades.
The baseball bats, authorities said, included one stored near his home’s front door and five more in a kitchen storage bench.
An officer of the New Jersey State Police, an investigative arm of the attorney general’s office, said in court papers that it appeared that the weapons found in Alite’s residence were intended for use in collecting debts.
According to court papers, Alite had threatened one person he had lent money to, saying he would strike him across the head with a baseball bat if he didn’t meet his demands.
Alite also had bragged that he had in the past endeavored to “gut” people like “fish,” the court papers said.
In a release, prosecutors said Alite carried out crimes in part through his corporation, Straightened-Out Entertainment Inc.
They said he illegally obtained property and money from his victims by threats of violence in ways that reflected his 2009 testimony at a Gotti trial that ended with a deadlocked jury.
Alite told a Manhattan federal court jury that he killed a childhood friend to earn respect from fellow mobsters.
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The Garden State set a record for monthly iGaming revenue in May. Read how much for the biggest month ever in New Jersey iGaming.
New Jersey online casinos have been going strong all year, but May 2026 was especially notable. The Garden State’s iGaming market earned a record-breaking $276.3 million last month. This amount eclipsed the previous record of $273.2 million set in December 2025.
NJ online casino revenue for May 2026: $276.3 million
The $276.3 million earned in May 2026 represents an 11.9% year-over-year (YoY) increase from May 2025, when NJ online casinos earned $246.8 million.
This was yet another strong month and double-digit increase for New Jersey iGaming. The state had an identical 11.9% YoY uptick last month, when iCasinos made $263.1 million.
Year-to-date earnings for New Jersey gaming sites are $1.32 billion through May 2026. That’s up 14.4% compared to the same time period last year, when New Jersey had $1.16 billion through May 2025.
Golden Nugget enjoyed the strongest month
According to the May 2026 New Jersey iGaming revenue report, the Golden Nugget brand led all NJ iCasinos with $86.45 million. Of the three online casinos operating under Golden Nugget’s license, FanDuel made the most with $63.24 million from casino games online. BetRivers and Golden Nugget Online earned $12.43 million and $10.79 million, respectively.
Resorts Casino Hotel had the second-best month with $53.89 million. It doesn’t break down revenue by each online casino. But DraftKings is the biggest operator on this license on account of its progressive jackpot slots.
Retail casinos stay flat
Last month, brick-and-mortar casinos joined in the party with an 11.7% YoY increase. This month was a different story. New Jersey land-based casinos made $265.6 million in May 2026, just a 0.1% increase over the $256.3 million made the previous May.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa had the best month among NJ retail casinos, earning $72.9 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City also had a solid month with $49.9 million, while Ocean Resorts rounded out the top three with $46.8 million.
Sports betting sees a big revenue decrease
In April 2026, sports betting had the largest growth out of New Jersey gambling verticals with a 12.8% YoY increase. However, May 2026 was a different story since NJ bookmakers earned $85.2 million—a 16.9% decrease from the $102.5 million made in the previous May.
The Garden State isn’t an outlier here since other states, like New York and Pennsylvania, also struggled with sports gambling revenue last month. US sportsbooks largely saw a smaller hold in May 2026 and are also dealing with increased competition from prediction markets.
iGaming continues to lead the way
Total gaming revenue for the state was $627.1 million in May 2026, representing a 2.0% YoY increase from the $614.7 million made in the previous May.
iGaming definitely looks to carry the torch moving forward. Many gambling operators are banking on real-money online slots to boost their revenue, while retail casinos and sports betting are currently struggling.
Responsible gambling
Legal US online casinos promote responsible play by allowing players to limit losses, sessions, wagers, and logins. They also offer timeout options for account breaks lasting days to weeks. Self-exclusion is a long-term option that shuts off access to an account for months or years.
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