A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez.
Jurors on Thursday informed U.S. District Judge William Walls they were deadlocked for a second time. On Monday, they also informed Walls they could not reach consensus, but he encouraged them to continue deliberating.
“We cannot reach a unanimous decision on any of the charges,” jurors said in a Thursday note to Walls, New Jersey Advance Media reported. “Nor are we willing to move away from our strong convictions.”
Walls reportedly interviewed the jurors individually before deciding to declare a mistrial in the case against the New Jersey Democrat and co-defendant Salomon Melgen.
The senator “[emerged] from judge’s chambers, wraps children in a big hug. Supporters of defendants are hugging and tearing up,” local journalist Nicholas Pugliese reported on Twitter.
It’s not immediately clear if the Justice Department will move to put Menendez and Melgen on trial again.
The case against Menendez and Melgen began with federal prosecutors probing a 2012 report that the pair visited prostitutes, some of them underage, in the Dominican Republic.
The prostitution claims were never proven, but investigators said they uncovered apparent bribery in the course of their probe. The men were indicted by a grand jury in 2015 on charges including bribery, fraud and making false statements.
Melgen, a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist, was accused of offering Menendez free flights and gifts in exchange for help getting visas for girlfriends and the senator’s assistance in a Medicare billing dispute and a port contract in the Dominican Republic.
Melgen was convicted in April of fraud for overbilling Medicare by as much as $105 million.
After initial reporting and before he was indicted, Menendez repaid Melgen nearly $70,000 for three unreported flights aboard Melgen’s plane.
Prosecutors uncovered other flights, in addition to numerous vacations taken by Menendez at Melgen’s Caribbean villa in the Dominican Republic and on his dime at a hotel room in Paris, along with legal defense and campaign donations.
The trial, which began in September, featured memorable moments, including an attorney for Melgen claiming the prosecution was an attack on all Hispanics, and the judge telling an attorney for Menendez to “shut up.”
