‘Fat Leonard’ Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison, Exposing Deep-Seated Corruption Within U.S. Navy

Leonard Glenn Francis, a former defense contractor famously known as “Fat Leonard,” has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for executing one of the largest bribery and fraud schemes in U.S. Navy history.

Francis fled the country in 2022, delaying his sentencing for over a year.

The Department of Justice reported that Francis, who is 60 and from Malaysia, must pay $20 million in restitution and a $150,000 fine.

His company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, was also fined $36 million and sentenced to five years of probation.

Francis admitted to bribing dozens of Navy officials with cash, luxury goods, expensive meals, and even the services of prostitutes to secure lucrative military contracts worth over $30 million for his company.

Prosecutors said that he gave secret information and even influenced the movement of Navy ships to ports that benefited his business operations.

Despite his guilty plea in 2015, Francis escaped house arrest in San Diego just days before his scheduled sentencing in September 2022.

Authorities said that he cut off his GPS ankle monitor and fled to Mexico and Cuba before being arrested in Venezuela two weeks later on an Interpol red notice.

He was finally brought back to the United States in December 2023.

Court records show that Francis had bribed Navy officials with lavish gifts, including Spanish suckling pigs, Kobe beef, Cuban cigars, luxury travel experiences, spa treatments, and designer items.

His impact on the United States was extensive, with at least 30 Navy officers and contractors convicted or pleaded guilty in connection with his schemes.

During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino discussed the severity of Francis’ actions. His prison sentence is 164 months for bribery and fraud charges, with an extra 16 months for escaping before sentencing, to be served consecutively.

Francis was earlier arrested in San Diego in 2013 and spent over four years in pretrial custody, according to the prosecutors. He was later released on bond in 2017 for medical reasons but remained under house arrest until his escape.

A spokesperson from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said that Francis had “disregarded the law and lined his pockets” at the expense of national security.

Additionally, an official from the Department of Defense said that Francis’ fraud had greatly undermined public trust in senior navy leadership.

The bribery scheme also involved overbilling the U.S. military by $35 million for services like fuel and sewage disposal.

Despite concerns about Francis’ gold-plated fees, the Navy still awarded him contracts worth $200 million between 2009 and 2011.

Francis’ arrest in Venezuela brought an end to a global manhunt and scandal that exposed deep-seated corruption within the U.S. Navy.

References: NYTimes, CBSNews

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