Former Sen. Bob Menendez, a veteran Democratic legislator who represented New Jersey from 2006 through his resignation last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty on charges of bribery and acting as an agent for a foreign government.

Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” Menendez told the judge. “For someone who spent his entire life in public service, every day I’m awake is a punishment.”

A lawyer for Bob Menendez has asked a judge to sentence the former U.S. senator to no more than eight years in prison, requesting leniency for a man he said was now known as "gold bar Bob" for the gold bars and cash bribes found in his home.