‘Fat Leonard,’ contractor in Navy bribery case, may face more charges

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8 p.m. EST with additional information from court documents.

MIAMI — A defense contractor at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in U.S. military history is expected to face additional charges following his return to the United States from Venezuela as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries , a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Leonard Glenn Francis, who is nicknamed “Fat Leonard,” faced a federal judge for the first time since snipping off his ankle monitor last year and disappearing weeks before a sentencing hearing on charges that he offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy officials, defense contractors and others.

He was later arrested in Venezuela and had been in custody there since, but was returned to the U.S. in a large swap that also saw the release of 10 American detainees by Venezuela in exchange for the Biden administration freeing Alex Saab , a Colombian-born businessman and close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was facing money laundering charges in Miami.

Francis, shackled and in a beige jumpsuit, stood by quietly as a federal magistrate judge in Miami ordered him to be transferred to the Southern District of California, the region where his case was initially filed.

Prosecutors said additional charges would be presented against Francis for failing to appear at a hearing in his ongoing bribery case in San Diego.

“Not right now,” an otherwise expressionless but soft-spoken Francis said in response to Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra’s question about whether he could afford an attorney.

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.

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 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 in 2015 and was allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor and security guards.

But weeks before he faced sentencing in September 2022, Francis made a daring escape as he cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela.

He was arrested a couple weeks later before boarding a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.

He had been in custody in Venezuela ever since, and officials said he sought asylum there .

Newly unsealed court documents show federal prosecutors making preparations last week for Saab’s release from U.S. custody, telling a judge that they anticipated that President Joe Biden would grant clemency for Saab and requesting an order for the U.S. Marshals Service to take Saab out of federal prison “based on significant foreign policy interests of the United States.”

Tucker reported from Washington.

编者按：本文已于美国东部时间晚上 8 点更新，添加了来自法庭文件的更多信息。

迈阿密——一名卷入美国军事史上最大贿赂丑闻之一的国防承包商，预计将在从委内瑞拉返回美国后面临更多指控。这是美委内瑞拉两国之间更广泛的换囚行动的一部分。一名联邦检察官周四表示。

绰号“胖伦纳德”的伦纳德·格伦·弗朗西斯自去年剪断脚踝监控器后首次出庭受审。此前，他因涉嫌向海军官员、国防承包商和其他人行贿超过 50 万美元现金，在量刑听证会前几周突然消失。

他后来在委内瑞拉被捕，并一直被关押在那里，但随后被送回美国。这是一次大规模的交换，委内瑞拉释放了 10 名美国被拘留者，以换取拜登政府释放哥伦比亚裔商人、委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗的亲密盟友亚历克斯·萨博，萨博当时在迈阿密面临洗钱指控。

弗朗西斯戴着镣铐，身穿米色连体服，静静地站在一旁，迈阿密的一名联邦治安法官下令将他移送至加利福尼亚州南区，他的案件最初就是在该地区提起的。

检察官表示，弗朗西斯因未出庭参加在圣地亚哥举行的受贿案听证会，将被追加指控。

“现在不行，”弗朗西斯面无表情但轻声细语地回答治安法官杰奎琳·贝塞拉关于他是否请得起律师的问题时说道。

近十年前，弗朗西斯在圣地亚哥一家酒店被捕，这是联邦政府一次诱捕行动的一部分。调查人员称，他通过向数十名海军高级军官提供酒水、性服务、奢华派对和其他礼物，从美国军方骗取了超过3500万美元。

这起丑闻导致近二十名海军官员、国防承包商和其他人员因各种欺诈和腐败指控被定罪和判刑。调查人员称，弗朗西斯拥有并经营着家族的船舶维修业务，他滥用职权，利用其作为美国海军在亚洲各港口商店的关键联系人的身份，以神户牛肉、昂贵雪茄、音乐会门票以及在从泰国到菲律宾的豪华酒店举办的狂野性派对等方式来讨好海军军官。

他在 2015 年认罪，获准住在租来的房子里，接受居家监禁，佩戴 GPS 脚踝监视器，并有保安人员看守，从而免于牢狱之灾。

但在2022年9月被判刑前几周，弗朗西斯大胆越狱，他剪断了脚踝上的电子监控器，从此销声匿迹。据官方称，他逃往墨西哥，途经古巴，最终抵达委内瑞拉。

几周后，他在加拉加斯郊外的西蒙·玻利瓦尔国际机场登机前被捕。委内瑞拉官员称他打算前往俄罗斯。

此后他一直被关押在委内瑞拉，官员称他在那里寻求庇护。

最新解封的法庭文件显示，联邦检察官上周为萨博从美国拘留所获释做准备，他们告诉法官，他们预计乔·拜登总统将赦免萨博，并请求下令美国法警署“基于美国重大的外交政策利益”将萨博从联邦监狱带走。

塔克从华盛顿报道。