Nadine Menendez was sentenced to 4 1/2 years behind bars Thursday for her role in a yearslong international bribery scheme that landed her husband, former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, in a federal prison in June.

She cried as she told U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein during her sentencing hearing at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse in Manhattan that she blames her husband for her criminal troubles. MORE : Cape May police seek suspects who vandalized Humpty Dumpty statue at mini golf course

"I was wrong about my husband," Menendez said in court, according to the New York Daily News. "I now know, he's not my savior. He's not the man I thought he was. I should have asked more questions. I should have known better."

Prosecutors have portrayed Nadine Menendez, 58, as t

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