This undated handout picture released on Sept. 21, 2022, by the Instagram account of Interpol Venezuela shows Malaysian fugitive Francis Leonard Glenn, known as Fat Leonard, after his capture in Maiquetia, Venezuela. (Interpol Venezuela Instagram acc/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
SAN DIEGO — Leonard Glenn Francis, the mastermind behind the worst bribery and corruption scandal in U.S. Navy history, appeared Thursday in San Diego federal court for the first time since he left house arrest and fled the country in 2022, just weeks before he was set to be sentenced.
Known as “Fat Leonard” because of his size, Francis was not charged Thursday with any new crimes related to his escape. Federal prosecutors said they may seek new charges at some point, but not until after he’s sentenced in the bribery and fraud scheme. Meanwhile his longtime defense attorneys re-upped a previous request to withdraw from the case.
U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino indicated she would allow the withdrawal despite the objection of prosecutors.
Francis, once a powerful military contractor who bribed Navy officials to do his bidding and bilked the U.S. government of at least $35 million, had spent more than 15 months jailed in Venezuela. That’s where Interpol agents captured him about two weeks after he absconded from house arrest in San Diego.
He was extradited to Miami on Dec. 20 as part of a prisoner swap that also freed 10 jailed Americans and 25 imprisoned Venezuelans in exchange for Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Thursday’s hearing marked the first time the Malysian-born Francis, 59, was back in San Diego since his escape on Labor Day weekend 2022, and his first time back in a San Diego federal courtroom in several years.
Francis was first arrested in 2013 during a sting operation at a San Diego Bay hotel and pleaded guilty in 2015 in U.S. District Court in San Diego to corruption charges related to his wide-ranging scheme to bribe Navy officials and overcharge the military for ship-servicing contracts.
A gregarious presence at Navy functions and port visits across Southeast Asia, Francis would shower officers with high-end meals, luxury resort stays and the services of prostitutes. In exchange, officers would leak confidential information to Francis, such as the details of ship movements, and steer ships to ports controlled by him and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.
But Francis had long avoided sentencing in the case. He spent several years as a cooperating witness for the U.S. government in the continuing investigation and prosecution of the more than 30 Navy officials ensnared in his scheme. But he was not called as a witness during the case’s lone trial in 2022 — a mild surprise, though he may have been viewed by prosecutors as a liability on the stand, especially after secretly recording a podcast while he was on house arrest.
Francis was granted pretrial release in 2018 due to his poor health — he at one point had kidney cancer, though most of his various medical issues were discussed only in sealed hearings — and eventually moved into a luxurious Carmel Valley-area rental home, complete with hired staff and private security guards that he paid and who rarely interacted with him. On Sept. 4, 2022, he cut off his GPS ankle monitor and fled to Mexico. From there he went to Cuba, then Venezuela. Officials have said he was trying to make it from South America to Russia.
Thursday’s hearing largely centered around who will represent Francis moving forward. A few weeks after his escape, his defense attorneys from the firm Warren & Burstein informed Sammartino that they would seek to withdraw their representation “based on an irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
Defense attorney Jeremy Warren confirmed in court Thursday that he and his partners, Devin Burstein and Katie Jenkins, still intended to withdraw from the case.
“We’re not in a position to advocate” for Francis, Warren told the judge, adding that he would provide details in a sealed hearing if she needed further explanation of their reasoning. Warren said the firm is loyal to its clients and it was a decision made “with a heavy heart,” but that Francis is in need of counsel who are “fully able to advocate for him.”
Francis, wearing a tan jumpsuit and a white COVID face covering, spoke only two words. “No, ma’am,” he told Sammartino when she asked if he had any objections to the withdrawal of his attorneys.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard objected to the withdrawal, arguing that Warren and his firm knew the case too well and had represented Francis too long to be allowed to withdraw now. He also argued that finding Francis new attorneys and getting them up to speed on the case would cause a lengthy a delay.
But Sammartino, pointing out the long history of the case, which has now stretched on for more than 10 years, indicated a delay of a few more weeks would not be an issue.
In fact, Francis is not the only defendant in the case still awaiting sentencing. On the same day last month that Francis was brought back to the U.S., Sammartino held what was supposed to be a sentencing hearing for four Navy officers and one Marine officer who had pleaded guilty to felony charges years ago. The judge expressed skepticism about proposals to dismiss or reduce charges against the five, saying attorneys from both sides failed to provide the legal reasoning behind such a move.
Sammartino said she was “concerned about the totality of this case” and told the parties that the public deserves answers about why the “Fat Leonard” prosecutions appeared to be crumbling.
Those concerns with the case date back to the 2022 trial, which was interrupted by a three-day hearing to sort out misconduct accusations against the prosecution. The judge later ruled a prosecutor committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from defense lawyers.
After Francis’ escape, attorneys for the trial defendants continued accusing prosecutors and investigating agents of misconduct and argued that his escape proved he was an untrustworthy government cooperator.
The government never disputed the misconduct allegations in writing, though prosecutors said in court that they denied many of the accusations against them. Nevertheless, during a hearing last year the U.S. Attorney’s Office admitted to “serious issues” with the case and Sammartino said her conclusion, based on the government’s failure to respond, meant that at least some of the allegations had merit.
At the same hearing, prosecutors dismissed the convictions of the four Navy officers found guilty during the trial and instead agreed to misdemeanor plea deals with all four that included no prison time. Attorneys for several of the trial defendants have filed a complaint with the California State Bar against the four trial prosecutors, accusing them of several due-process violations.
It’s unclear how those twists in the prosecution that occurred while Francis was in Venezuela will affect his own case moving forward. According to his Venezuelan attorney, Francis had been duped into believing he would never be returned to U.S. custody and that Maduro did not view him as a bargaining chip in the Saab negotiations.
San Diego-area U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath celebrated his return Thursday.
“Leonard Francis is no longer on the run. He is on the hook,” McGrath said in a statement. “Mr. Francis never should have fled the United States while he was waiting to be sentenced. In fact, he was ordered by a federal judge not to do so. Now that he is back in San Diego, Mr. Francis will be held fully accountable for his crimes.”
Sheppard, the assistant U.S. attorney, told the judge that prosecutors are “considering additional charges” related to Francis absconding. But he told Sammartino that a potential new case might have to go to a different judge, since the charges could involve contempt of Sammartino’s court.
Sheppard said that because Francis was on house arrest as part of a medical furlough when he fled, prosecutors might file an “indirect contempt case” rather than a “straight escape case.”
Francis is next expected in court Feb. 8, by which time Warren said Francis should have new representation.
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Originally published at The San Diego Union Tribune