US Senator Bob Menendez has resigned from his position. He made the decision because he was convicted of corruption. His resignation letter was read in the Senate on Tuesday.

Menendez has been charged with bribery. He and his wife are said to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars and a car in exchange for information, including from businessmen with ties to the Egyptian government.

There was already a process underway to expel him from the Senate. His Democratic Party had already put forward another candidate for this fall’s election. Menendez’s term wasn’t actually scheduled to end until January. The governor of his home state, New Jersey, could appoint a successor for the remainder of the term.

Menendez has served in the Senate since 2006 and previously served in the House of Representatives for thirteen years.

Last week, a New York jury convicted Menendez and his wife of corruption. The process took nine weeks. They say they are innocent.

The 70-year-old New Jersey Democrat was convicted on all 16 counts against him, including that he tipped off the Egyptian military about plans for U.S. aid.

The sentence facing the former senator and his wife will be announced in October. Menendez faces decades in prison. The convicted politician says he will appeal the jury’s verdict.