Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian contractor at the center of the U.S. Navy’s worst-ever bribery and corruption scandal, has asked an appeals court to overturn his 15-year sentence, arguing a San Diego federal judge violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and ignored his poor health and several other factors that should have resulted in a shorter prison term. The swaggering con man known as ‘Fat Leonard’ because of his enormous size was sentenced in November in San Diego federal court on charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States out of at least $35 million. He was also sentenced for a conviction of failure to appear in connection with his 2022 escape from house arrest that sparked an international manhunt.” (06/18/25)