More indictments for “Fat Leonard”
A number of folks sent us inks to the news that the Justice Department issued a new indictment in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case. Eight more people, including an admiral are included in the latest round according to the Washington Post;
Among those charged were Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, a senior Navy intelligence officer who recently retired from a key job at the Pentagon, as well as four retired Navy captains and a retired Marine colonel. The charges cover a period of eight years, from 2006 through 2014.
The Navy personnel are accused of taking bribes in the form of lavish gifts, prostitutes and luxury hotel stays courtesy of Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis, a Singapore-based defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Navy of tens of millions of dollars.
The indictment lists page after page of bribes allegedly provided to the defendants including $25,000 watches, $2,000 boxes of Cohiba cigars, $2,000 bottles of cognac and $600-per-night hotel rooms.
According to the charging documents, Francis also frequently sponsored wild sex parties for many officers assigned to the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the Navy’s 7th Fleet, and other warships.
This brings the count of folks involved to 27 – 10 of whom have pleaded guilty already.
Over time, the investigation has revealed the ease with which the 6-foot-3-inch, 350-pound defense contractor was able to penetrate the senior ranks of the 7th Fleet and recruit moles to work on his behalf.
Court papers portray Francis as a master manipulator who persuaded Navy officials to feed him classified information about ship movements and confidential contract information that he used to undercut his competitors.
Corrupt Navy personnel have also pleaded guilty to leaking Francis sensitive law enforcement files that he exploited for years to thwart dozens of failed criminal investigations into his company.
We need to bring back firing squads to deal with these criminals.
Category: Navy
“We need to bring back firing squads to deal with these criminals.”
Pour encourager les autres
Keel-hauling works, too. Especially appropriate in this case, I think.
Those found guilty should face the most severe penalties: DD and prison time. Many years of prison time. Many years …
Dunno about the firing squad, Jonn – I kinda doubt the SCOTUS would buy that.
But recall to active duty, then full forfeitures, DD or dismissal, and a decade or more hard time (if convicted, of course) would be IMO a pretty good deterrent.
“We need to bring back firing squads to deal with these criminals.”
Got to let the “boys” at the BTJT deli have their fun with them first… then the firing squads!
I was on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) in 2013 and the Captain (CAPT Daniel P. Dusek) got arrested for being in bed (hopefully figuratively) with Fat Tony. [Best thing for the ship – the XO who became captain was awesome.]
How this impacted me was in early 2013, we (31st MEU) had just finished Cobra Gold (an annual multinational exercise in Thailand) and were going to have a port call near Pattaya. We had been inland at Ban Dan Lan Hoi for the exercise which was a lot like being in the training area at Camp Pendleton. We were certainly ready to see something of Thailand other than dirt and scrubby vegetation.
Turns out that since another navy supply ship had just gotten “overcharged” by Glenn Marine while docked in the same location we were going to, the Navy banned all other Glenn Marine serviced port calls.
Fortunately, I’ve been back to Thailand several other times for subsequent Cobra Gold exercises. Thai food rocks!!
And fantastic Buddhist temples….but I seem to fondly recall a more alluring attraction than food and buildings….
“more alluring attraction than food and buildings”
There’s certainly lots of that but for a guy who is interested in staying married, the food is certainly a draw! They actually are the only people, so far, that have been able to make something so hot I couldn’t finish it. (Not including using too much Dave’s Insanity Sauce in chili.) I grew up in Texas and loves me some hot food, but that was melting my stomach!
Try Cambodian food. My wife will get Thai food, order it all the way to 10 on their heat scale, then drown it in Sriracha to make it taste more like her mom’s home cooking.
Oh my…the smell in your bathroom….
She addresses that. Not sure how, but it smells like fresh-cut flowers when she comes out.
This just keeps bleeding…and I will be curious how far up the flag pole it continues…VADM “Twig” Branch was somehow caught up in this and had his clearance pulled years ago while serving (and still serving, it seems) in a highly sensitive position on the Naval Staff…underlings had to take the classified decision briefs….it’s like he’s being kept there on death row
Is it valid to ask how many people did not get recommended for promotion because Fat Leonard told these jerks they weren’t cooperating by supplying classified info?
$2,000 for a box of cigars?
Monica Lewinski signature edition
Leonard was apparently a piker. Bill Clinton reportedly smokes Gurkha “His Majesty’s Reserve” stogies. In 2014, they were $1000 – each.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2731126/Dead-broke-no-Bill-Clinton-fancies-1-000-cigars-stogie-maker-says.html
That a Goddamn politician is able to afford to even look at such an expensive frivolity is disgusting. Oh wait, ain’t he the guy that the dems wanted to be “Mr. Madam Prez” a few months back, while they were wailing about how Trump was too rich to care about America?
For that price, the cigar band should have been ribbed…..for her pleasure
Since it’s the Navy, keelhauling sounds appropriate.
If it was some poor shcmuck L Cpl who lost some encryption gear or code book he’d get hammered.
These Flag Rank ass hats need tio be busted to E-1 and sentenced to hard labor under the most sadistic NCOs in the Military penal system.
One of the more amusing things about this comment is the fact that a few Sailors were sent to Captain’s Mast for one clicking the safe in Radio on a ship in the ESG. It didn’t end too well for those guys. Of course the CO happens to be one of those charged in this mess….
Leavenworth for all those who are convicted. Let the Marines have fun running these worthless asshole into the ground. Listen for the night sounds of knob polishing and groaning.
Let the guilty heads keep rolling, I’m sure nobody held a gun to their heads and told them to take the bribes, thus I have no sympathy for those who go corrupt.
Reading the documents it seems Loveless and another senior officer lost their clearances back in 2013 when this started
So how the fuck did they remain on active duty with a commission without a clearance? Much less in an intelligence billett in Loveless’s case
Bust them back, reduce their retirement pay, perhaps by the amount each received. Nice terminal billet at Klefavik or Diego Garcia as supply officer with no procurement authority for the still active.
Cocksuckers.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
(the loudest/biggest ‘BOOM’ yet heard at TAH)
Hope it was worth it, fuckers.
I guess retirement didn’t save your ass after all Admiral…you fuck.
This is just as bad as the Walker Clan fiasco. How many times did Fat Leo pass on ship’s movement to other nations or groups?
Did he have access to contracts in Gulf region too? Was the USS Cole bombing a result of his passing intel onto AQ?
I know I am stretching it a bit, but there is a well known group in the P. I. that would probably love to fuck up a group ofSailors and Marines called Abu Sayef.
I don’t think its a stretch at all
What amazes me about all of this is the amount of people that said “fuck it”
I spent the last 5 years of my career as a logistics officer after coming from a combat arms background
I spent enormous amounts of time making sure purchases and support contracts were legal and fisically sound.
I can’t even begin to fathom how so many of these knuckleheads just said fuck it. Knowing better.