‘Fat Leonard’ Gets 15 Years for Bribing Navy Officers, Fleeing Country

Nearly a decade after pleading guilty to bribing numerous high-ranking Navy officials to benefit his ship husbanding company, foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis was sentenced in San Diego Tuesday to 15 years in prison.

The term imposed Tuesday covers both his leadership role in the wide- ranging bribery and corruption scandal as well as his escape from the country in fall 2022 while on house arrest. Francis, who was originally arrested in San Diego in 2013, will receive credit for more than six years spent in custody in the United States and in Venezuela, where he was arrested after fleeing San Diego in 2022.

Francis, 60, admitted giving free meals, hotel rooms, prostitutes and other gifts to Naval officials, who in turn helped steer Navy ships to ports Francis controlled. His company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, then overcharged the Navy by over $35 million for the company’s services, prosecutors said.

At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Francis asked U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino for leniency and said he wished to reunite with his children someday with what “limited time left” he has.

“While I cannot reverse the damage I’ve caused, I’ve spent much of the 11 years since my arrest committed to taking full accountability and assisting the government with its investigations,” Francis told the judge. “In addition to violating the trust of the court and the government, I regret so much that I let down my children.”

At the defense’s request, Sammartino recommended Francis be housed in a facility that can provide him the highest level of medical care available for a multitude of health issues he suffers from. She also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy.

Sammartino said Francis’ “long-term and expansive” crimes were propelled by his talents at identifying and exploiting “vulnerable people, people capable of being influenced.”

The judge said that in order to satisfy his greed, Francis turned what was a successful ship husbanding business into “a bribery business.”

Sammartino told Francis, “Careers have been ruined and lives shattered. Otherwise exemplary Naval careers ended ignominiously with disgrace and embarrassment. You ruined lives, including your own, Mr. Francis.”

Tuesday’s sentence exceeded prosecutors’ recommendation of almost a dozen years in custody.

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors described the bribery scheme as “aggravated and egregious,” but said Francis should be credited for the information he provided authorities.

Francis met with investigators more than 50 times over the course of several years, providing them with “detailed information on hundreds of individuals, from petty officers to admirals, including captains, commanders, Vice Admirals, and Rear Admirals,” according to prosecutors, who wrote “the degree and significance of his cooperation cannot be overstated.”

Francis’ attorney, William Douglas Sprague, who sought a sentence of just under nine years, also argued his client’s cooperation should warrant a lesser sentence.

Sprague also said Glenn Defense Marine Asia provided the Navy with exemplary services for many years.

“Unfortunately, as Leonard acknowledged in his early guilty plea and immediate cooperation, his greed drove him to commit bribery and to commit fraud,” Sprague said.

The information Francis provided led to indictments against dozens of defendants, including several high-ranking Naval officers.

Despite securing convictions and guilty pleas against over 30 people, the case was later mired in controversy, with prosecutors accused of withholding evidence from defense attorneys during the case’s lone trial.

The former lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Pletcher, was found by Sammartino to have committed “flagrant misconduct” amid the trial of five Navy officers. Four of those officers were convicted by a jury, but those convictions were later vacated and the officers were allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanors in the wake of the allegations.

Guilty pleas entered by other Navy officers to felony counts were later allowed to be reduced to misdemeanors, while charges against another officer who pleaded guilty were dismissed entirely.

Despite the information he divulged, Francis was never called to testify in the five officers’ trial. Their defense attorneys argued the information Francis provided to authorities was not credible due to Francis’ interest in securing a reduced sentence and other benefits from the government.

Following his guilty plea, Francis initially spent time in custody, but was later placed on house arrest in San Diego on a medical furlough due to a variety of health problems.

Officials say that as his sentencing in the bribery case neared, Francis cut off a 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 attorneys said Francis fled due in part to concerns that Pletcher would no longer be available to advocate on his behalf for a reduced sentence. He also feared that he would not have enough time to see his ailing mother before health issues took both their lives. Francis’ mother died earlier this year in Malaysia while he was in custody.

Updated at 12:30 p.m. Nov.5, 2024

–City News Service