By Alex Riggins, The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — The Malaysian contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who bribed dozens of high-ranking U.S. Navy officers in the Navy’s worst-ever corruption scandal, was sentenced Tuesday in San Diego federal court to 15 years in prison.
The sentence means that Leonard Glenn Francis, 60, will spend about 81⁄2 more years in federal prison when taking into account the credit he’ll receive from the more than six years he has already spent in custody, though likely even less if he qualifies for early release. U.S.
District Judge Janis Sammartino was also prepared to order Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy on top of the $35 million he was already ordered to forfeit as part of his plea agreement. Francis, who has only ever said a handful of words in open court, somberly addressed the judge and asked for mercy so he could be reunited with his children. “I sincerely regret my misconduct that led to this day,” Francis said.
He called his actions “inexcusable and wrong.” Francis, who was arrested in September 2013 during a sting operation that lured him to San Diego, pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. His company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, which contracted to provide goods and services to Navy vessels for 25 years in ports across Asia, pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Francis also pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge relate.