'Fat Leonard' Gets 15 Years

Former military defense contractor Leonard "Fat Leonard" Francis was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for masterminding a decade-long bribery scheme that swept up dozens of US Navy officers, federal prosecutors said. US District Judge Janis L. Sammartino also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy and a $150,000 fine, according to a statement from the US Attorney's Office. He was also ordered to forfeit $35 million in "ill-gotten proceeds from his crimes," the statement said.

• Prosecutors said the sentence resulted from Francis' first guilty plea in 2015 concerning bribery and fraud, his extensive cooperation with the government since then, and another guilty plea Tuesday for failing to appear for his original sentencing hearing in 2022, the AP reports.

• Shortly before he was due to be sentenced in September 2022, Francis cut off a GPS monitor he was wearing while under house arrest and fled the country. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the US in December 2023. Sammartino sentenced him to more than 13.5 years for the bribery and fraud charges, plus 16 months for failing to appear. The sentences are to be served consecutively. He will receive credit for the more than 6 years he has already spent in federal custody.
• "Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of US Naval forces," US Attorney Tara McGrath said in Tuesday's statement. "The impact of his deceit and manipulation will be long felt, but justice has been served today."
• Prosecutors said Francis' actions led to one of the biggest bribery investigations in US military history, which resulted in the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges.

• Francis owned and operated his family's ship servicing business, Singapore-based GDMA, which supplied food, water, and fuel to vessels. The Malaysian defense contractor was a key contact for US Navy ships at ports across Asia for more than two decades. During that time, Francis wooed naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets, and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines. In exchange, officers, including the first active-duty admiral to be convicted of a federal crime, concealed the scheme in which Francis would overcharge for supplying ships or charge for fake services at ports he controlled in Southeast Asia.
• The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Francis, 60, asked the judge for mercy so he could be reunited with his children. "I sincerely regret my misconduct that led to this day," said Francis, calling his actions "inexcusable and wrong."

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