'Fat Leonard' faces sentencing in Navy bribery scandal
Leonard Glenn Francis, aka "Fat Leonard," will be sentenced next week after his conviction, dramatic escape from custody and recapture in one of the biggest bribery and corruption scandals in U.S. military history.
Francis is due in U.S. District Court in San Diego on Tuesday, 11 years after his initial arrest and two years after he cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Venezuela. He returned to U.S. custody in December after his apprehension by Venezuelan authorities and a prisoner swap between the two countries.
Under a plea agreement, the 6'3", 350-pound Malaysian former defense contractor, who bribed hundreds of Navy officers for classified information for more than 20 years, could see less than a year of jail time, court documents show.
The agreement comes after "Fat Leonard" admitted to defrauding the U.S. government and American taxpayers out of at least $35 million dollars until he was caught in a sting operation in 2013. Following his arrest, nearly 1,000 Navy officers came under scrutiny, including 91 admirals.
Federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against 34 defendants, 33 of whom were convicted after Francis provided information to authorities while in U.S. custody. Francis could be sentenced to a maximum of 22 years in prison for his crimes, but the Department of Justice has sought a much lighter sentence in light of his cooperation, court documents show.
"Perhaps a harsher sentence would be justified given Francis’s egregious and prolonged criminal conduct, as well as his violation of the Court’s trust with respect to his release on medical furlough. But the substantial assistance provided by Francis cannot be ignored, and the degree and significance of his cooperation cannot be overstated regardless of what one thinks of the individual or his underlying criminal conduct," U.S. Attorney Tara K. McGrath wrote.
Francis was arrested in a San Diego hotel nearly a decade ago as part of a federal sting operation. Investigators say he bilked the U.S. military out of more than $35 million by buying off dozens of top-ranking Navy officers with booze, sex, lavish parties and other gifts.
‘FAT LEONARD’ CUTS ANKLE MONITOR WEEKS BEFORE SENTENCING IN $35 MILLION US NAVY CORRUPTION SCANDAL
The scandal led to the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges. Investigators say that Francis, who owned and operated his family’s ship-servicing business, abused his position as a key contact for U.S. Navy shops at ports across Asia, wooing naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines.
He pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges in 2015 and was placed under house arrest in San Diego with a GPS monitor and security guards.
But while awaiting sentencing, Francis slipped out of his ankle monitor and disappeared.
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He failed to respond to messages and knocks at his door from federal officers who noticed that his monitor had gone offline. His home was found empty after police conducted a welfare check that afternoon.
"He was planning this out, that's for sure," U.S. Marshal Omar Castillo told the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time, adding that neighbors said they had seen a U-Haul being loaded up in the weeks prior to his escape.
The U.S. Marshals had offered a $40,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Francis was apprehended by Venezuelan authorities, who had been advised by Interpol that he was a wanted man. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.
The Biden administration secured Francis' extradition and the release of 10 other detainees by Venezuela in exchange for Alex Saab, a Columbian-born businessman and close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who had been charged in the U.S. in a money laundering case, the Associated Press reported.
Fox News Digital's Liz Friden, Jennifer Griffin, Brie Stimson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.