'Fat Leonard,' who fled San Diego before Navy bribery sentencing, extradited in Venezuela swap

[useapen]

The extradition of convicted defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard”
Francis to the United States as part of the Venezuelan prisoner swap on
Wednesday is the latest twist in a decade-long salacious saga and bribery
scheme that swept up dozens of American Navy officers.

One of the biggest bribery investigations in U.S. military history led to
the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense
contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges. And it was
punctuated by Francis' daring escape last year, when he fled from house
arrest at his San Diego home to South America.

Francis is expected to appear in federal court in the Southern District of
Florida on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. There, if
the hearing goes forward, the government will seek Francis' removal to
California.

"Now that Mr. Francis is back in U.S. custody, we look forward to his
return to the Southern District of California where he will be held
accountable for his crimes," U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a
statement.

An enigmatic figure, Francis owned and operated his family’s ship
servicing business, Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. or
GDMA, which supplied food, water and fuel to vessels. The Malaysian
defense contractor was a key contact for U.S. Navy ships at ports across
Asia for more than two decades. During that time he wooed naval officers
with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at
luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines.

In exchange, the 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 officers passed him classified
information and even went so far as redirecting military vessels to ports
that were lucrative for his Singapore-based ship servicing company.

In a federal sting, Francis was lured to San Diego on false pretenses and
arrested at a hotel in September 2013. He pleaded guilty in 2015,
admitting that he had offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy
officials, defense contractors and others. Prosecutors say he bilked the
Navy out of at least $35 million. As part of his plea deal, he cooperated
with the investigation leading to the Navy convictions. He faced up to 25
years in prison.

While awaiting sentencing, Francis was hospitalized and treated for renal
cancer and other medical issues. After leaving the hospital, he was
allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS
ankle monitor and security guards.

But three weeks before his scheduled sentencing in September 2022, he
snipped off his monitor and made a brazen escape, setting off an
international search. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to
Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela.

He was arrested more than two weeks after his disappearance — caught
before he boarded a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport
outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.

He has been in custody in Venezuela even since, and officials said he
sought asylum there. The United States and Venezuela have an extradition
agreement.

On Wednesday, the U.S. freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in Venezuela
and for Francis' extradition. The deal represents the U.S. government’s
boldest bid to improve relations with the major oil-producing nation and
extract concessions from the self-proclaimed socialist leader. The Biden
administration agreed to suspend some sanctions, following a commitment by
Maduro and an opposition faction to work toward free and fair conditions
for the 2024 presidential election.

Francis' escape wasn't the only prosecution stumble.

The cases were handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in an effort to be
independent of the military justice system. But they have came under
scrutiny.

Earlier this fall, the felony convictions of four former Navy officers
were vacated following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. U.S.
District Judge Janis Sammartino agreed to allow them to plead guilty to a
misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each.

Last year Sammartino had ruled that the lead federal prosecutor in their
case committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from
defense lawyers but she said at the time that it was not enough to dismiss
the case. During a sentencing hearing in federal court in San Diego in
early September, assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ko, who was brought on
after the trial last year, admitted to “serious issues” and asked the
judge to vacate the officers’ felony convictions.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/fat-leonard-who-fled-san-diego-
before-navy-bribery-sentencing-extradited-in-venezuela-prisoner-
swap/3385258/