the 61-year-old democrat has pleaded not guilty to eight bribery counts related to his close personal friendship with eye surgeon dr salomon melgen , 60 , according to a 68-page federal indictment unsealed this month and detailed in the new york post .
the two quickly became close , with menendez being invited to fly on melgen 's private jet and visit his villa in the dominican republic on several occasions .
according to the details in the indictment , menendez began helping out his rich friend in 1998 , when melgen wanted to fly a 22-year-old girlfriend - identified as ` girlfriend 2 in court documents .