SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Military contractor Leonard Glenn "Fat Leonard" Francis, who fled from the United States while awaiting sentencing in San Diego for his role in a wide-ranging bribery case, did so because he feared the lead prosecutor would not honor his cooperation with authorities, and because his mother had serious health issues, defense attorneys argued in court papers filed Wednesday.
Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribing numerous Navy officials with fancy hotel stays, free meals, and prostitutes in order to benefit his ship husbanding company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. The scheme led GDMA to overcharge the Navy by more than $35 million for the company's services, prosecutors said.
While Francis was initially placed in custody following his guilty plea, he was later placed on house arrest in San Diego on a medical furlough due to a variety of health problems.
Officials say that in the fall of 2022, as his sentencing in the bribery case neared, Francis cut off a GPS monitor he was required to wear and disappeared from San Diego. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the United States last December following a prisoner exchange between the two countries.
Francis, now in custody again in San Diego, is set to be sentenced early next month.
In sentencing papers, his attorneys say Francis previously provided extensive cooperation to authorities, but controversy surrounding the prosecution of Navy officials accused of accepting Francis' bribes led him to worry that "the lead prosecutor no longer would or could be a credible advocate" to argue his cooperation warranted a reduced sentence.
That prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Pletcher, was found by a judge to have committed "flagrant misconduct" amid the trial of five Naval officers charged with accepting bribes from Francis. Four of those officers were convicted, but those convictions were later dismissed in the wake of the misconduct allegations, which included accusations that the prosecutor withheld information from the officers' defense attorneys.
Francis' attorneys wrote that Francis no longer trusted Pletcher would advocate for Francis and "even if he did, he had no credibility with the court."
The attorneys wrote that in addition, Francis was concerned about remaining in the United States due to his mother's deteriorating health and "concluded that the chances of him ever seeing his mother alive again were quickly evaporating." Francis was also dealing with serious health issues of his own, the attorneys say.
They argue Francis "panicked" and "in a horrendous mistake of judgment, he left the United States hoping to eventually figure out some way to get to a place where he could spend time with his mother before either of them died." Francis' mother died earlier this year in Malaysia while he was in custody.
His attorneys, who are seeking a prison sentence of eight years and nine months, said Francis has already agreed to plead guilty to a federal count of failure to appear in court.
"Leonard understands that this decision was inexcusable and wrong," the sentencing memorandum reads. "He sincerely regrets the decision and labels it one of the worst decisions he has made in his life."
Prosecutors are seeking a prison term of 11 years and eight months for Francis and noted in their sentencing papers that Francis has agreed to plead guilty for the escape.
While they described the bribery scheme as "aggravated and egregious," prosecutors also wrote that "the degree and significance of his cooperation cannot be overstated."
During the trial held in 2022 for the five Navy officers, the officers' defense attorneys denounced Francis, arguing he spun a web of lies implicating numerous Navy officials in order to secure a reduced sentence and other benefits from the government. Francis was never called to testify in the trial.
Along with the five officers who went to trial, dozens of others pleaded guilty to various charges.
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