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By Amber Stevens
A military contractor, Leonard Francis aka. Fat Leonard was sentenced on Tuesday, November 5th, 2024, to 15 years in prison for masterminding a ten-year-long bribery scheme that swept up dozens of US Navy officers.
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino also fined Francis $150,000 and ordered him to pay $20 million to the Navy. He was also ordered to forfeit $35 million “ill-gotten proceeds from his crimes,” the statement said. Leonard pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribery and fraud and entered another guilty plea on Tuesday for not appearing for his original sentencing hearing in 2022.
Shortly before his hearing in 2022 he cut off his GPS monitor while on house arrest and fled the country. He was later arrested in Venezuela and returned to the U.S. in December of 2023.
Judge Sammartino sentenced him to more than 13 ½ years for the bribery and fraud charges plus 16 months for failing to appear. His sentence is to be severed consecutively. “Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of U.S. Naval forces,” U.S. 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 stated Francis’ actions led to one of the biggest bribery investigations in U.S. military history.
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