Menendez friends urge judge to weigh ex-senator’s public service in sentencing

Friends of former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) asked the judge overseeing his federal corruption case to weigh his decades of public service when deciding his sentence next month. In letters to U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein, Menendez’s friends — many of whom said they’ve known the former senator for decades — pointed to his advocacy…