SAN DIEGO — A federal choose on Tuesday dismissed the felony convictions of 5 retired army officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fats Leonard” in one among the Navy’s greatest corruption circumstances.
The dismissals got here on the request of the federal government — not the protection — citing prosecutorial errors.
Retired U.S. Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor cost of exposing info on Tuesday, whereas U.S. Navy officer Stephen Shedd’s whole case was thrown out. Their protection legal professionals couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
It marked the most recent setback to the federal government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of army officers tied to protection contractor Leonard Francis, nicknamed “ Fats Leonard.” The enigmatic determine — who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 kilos at one time — owned and operated Singapore-based Glenn Protection Marine Asia Ltd., which provided meals, water and gas to U.S. Navy vessels.
Francis is awaiting sentencing after pleading responsible to providing greater than $500,000 in money bribes, together with different presents and wild intercourse events in Southeast Asia, to Navy officers, protection contractors and others. The scheme allowed him to bilk the maritime service out of not less than $35 million by getting commanders to redirect ships to ports he managed and overcharging for companies, in line with the prosecution. He was arrested in 2013 in a sting operation in San Diego.
Prosecutors mentioned in authorized filings outlining their request for Tuesday’s dismissals that the motion doesn’t imply the defendants didn’t commit the charged crimes however as a result of info was withheld from the protection and different errors had been made, they wished to make sure justice was served pretty.
In 2022, U.S. District Courtroom Choose Janis Sammartino dominated the previous lead federal prosecutor dedicated “flagrant misconduct” by withholding info from protection legal professionals. In September, the felony convictions of 4 former Navy officers had been additionally vacated. The 4 males pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor and agreed to pay a $100 wonderful every.
The dismissals by Sammartino on Tuesday come weeks earlier than Francis is due again in courtroom to set a date for his sentencing.
Francis returned to the U.S. late final yr after a daring escape from his home arrest in San Diego in 2022 weeks earlier than his unique sentencing listening to. He was later captured in Venezuela, which extradited him to the U.S. as a part of a prisoner trade.
The escape was additionally seen by some as a misstep by the prosecution for permitting him to not be held behind bars.
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