Defense contractor ‘Fat Leonard’ sentenced to 15 years in prison in Navy fraud, bribery scheme

A former defense contractor who was convicted in a massive bribery and fraud scheme that ensnared several senior Navy officers was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 15 years in prison. Leonard Glenn Francis, 60, also was ordered to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy and a $150,000 fine.

Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” pleaded guilty in 2015 to the bribery and fraud charges. But he fled the country in 2022 while under house arrest after cutting off his GPS monitor. He went to Mexico, then Cuba and ultimately Venezuela, where he was arrested and returned to the U.S. last December.

A Malaysian citizen living in Singapore, Francis provided logistical support to U.S. Navy ships operating in the Indo-Pacific region through his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. In his initial plea agreement, he admitted to bribing at least seven Navy officials by giving them more than $500,000 in cash and luxury items worth millions of dollars, U.S. Justice Department officials said Tuesday.

“Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of U.S. Naval forces,” Tara McGrath, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. “The impact of his deceit and manipulation will be long felt, but justice has been served today.”

Francis provided the Navy officials with prostitutes and hundreds of thousands of dollars for travel and hotels. He also passed out designer handbags, Cuban cigars and high-end consumer electronics.

In return, Navy personnel gave him classified information about future port visits and details about his competitors’ bids for military contracts. They also gave him a heads-up about U.S. investigations into his company’s practices, Justice Department officials said.

Francis admitted to defrauding the Navy out of tens of millions of dollars by routinely overbilling for fuel, sewage disposal and tugboat services while in port. His company also was ordered to pay a $36 million fine.

His scheme to defraud the U.S. lasted several years, but Justice Department officials said he “extensively” cooperated with authorities after his initial arrest. He provided them with information about hundreds of Navy personnel, from enlisted sailors to admirals, who were part of the operation.

“Mr. Francis’ sentencing brings closure to an expansive fraud scheme that he perpetrated against the U.S. Navy with assistance from various Navy officials,” said Kelly Mayo, director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. “This fraud conspiracy ultimately cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars and weakened the public’s trust in some of our Navy’s senior leaders.”