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“Fat Leonard” to be convicted of bribing Navy officers who fled the country

“Fat Leonard” to be convicted of bribing Navy officers who fled the country

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Nearly a decade after he pleaded guilty to bribing Navy officials to benefit his shipbuilding company, foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in San Diego.

Francis’ sentencing followed a contentious trial of five Navy officers, guilty pleas by dozens of other defendants and Francis’ flight from the country while under house arrest.

Prosecutors are seeking a prison term of 11 years and eight months for Francis, who has admitted to providing free meals, hotel rooms, prostitutes and other gifts to naval officials who in turn helped direct Navy ships to ports controlled by Francis. Francis’ company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, then demanded more than $35 million from the Navy for the company’s services, prosecutors said.

The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Janice Sammartino, who presided throughout the case, will cover his role in the bribery scheme as well as his escape from San Diego. Francis is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of failing to appear in court.

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors called the bribery scheme “aggravated and egregious” but noted that their sentencing recommendation credited Francis with information he provided to authorities. Prosecutors said Francis met with investigators more than 50 times over several years, providing them with “detailed information on hundreds of individuals, from petty officers to admirals, including captains, commanders, vice admirals and rear admirals.” wrote that “the extent and significance of his collaboration cannot be overestimated.”

Francis’ cooperation was integral to the defense of five Navy officers facing trial in 2022. Their lawyers argued that Francis spun a web of lies about the involvement of numerous Navy officials in order to obtain a reduced sentence and other benefits from the government. Despite the information he released, Francis was never called to testify in court.

After pleading guilty, Francis was initially in custody but was later placed under house arrest in San Diego on medical leave due to multiple health issues.

Officials say that in the fall of 2022, as his verdict in the bribery case approached, Francis cut off the GPS monitor he was required to wear and disappeared from San Diego. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the United States last December following a prisoner exchange between the two countries.

In sentencing papers, his lawyers, who are seeking a prison sentence of eight years and nine months, say Francis fled in part because of controversy surrounding the prosecution of Navy officials accused of accepting bribes from him.

They wrote that Francis fears that “the chief prosecutor will no longer or cannot be a reliable defense attorney,” arguing that his cooperation justifies a reduced sentence.

That prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Pletcher, was found by Sammartino to have committed “egregious misconduct” during the trial of five Navy officers. Four of those officers were convicted, but those convictions were later overturned and the officers were allowed to plead guilty to the offenses following allegations of misconduct that included allegations that a prosecutor withheld information from the officers’ lawyers.

Other guilty pleas entered by other Navy officers to felony charges were later allowed to be reduced to misdemeanors, and charges against another officer who pleaded guilty were dropped entirely.

According to his lawyers, Francis was also concerned about remaining in the United States due to his mother’s deteriorating health and “came to the conclusion that the chances of him ever seeing his mother alive again were rapidly evaporating.” Francis also had serious health problems, lawyers said.

They claim that Francis “panicked” and “made a terrible mistake and left the United States, hoping to eventually find a way to get to a place where he could spend time with his mother before either of them died.” Francis’ mother died earlier this year in Malaysia while he was in custody.

“Leonard understands that this decision was inexcusable and wrong,” the sentencing memorandum said. “He truly regrets this decision and calls it one of the worst decisions he has made in his life.”

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