‘The brothers are ready to indulge:’ Focus in ‘Fat Leonard’ Navy bribery trial turns to emails
Week six wraps up in the trial against five former Navy officers, with likely at least two more months to go
BY KRISTINA DAVIS
APRIL 8, 2022 4:54 PM PT
The charismatic party persona of the Navy contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” and the lavish fetes he often hosted, were widely known in military circles throughout Southeast Asia. But for as much glad-handing as Leonard Glenn Francis did in person, he also did a lot of business on email.
That is how he plied U.S. naval officers for classified information, asked for their influence to protect and promote his contracts within the Navy, and planned “boys’ nights out” with prostitutes at posh hotels as a reward for their loyalty.
The large volume of email communications has been the evidentiary backbone of the long-running investigation into Francis’ bribery and fraud conspiracy — the Navy’s worst corruption scandal in modern history — to which he and several naval officers have already pleaded guilty.
This past week, many of those same emails took center stage in the trial against five other naval officers accused of similar corruption.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2022-04-08/fat-leonard-navy-trial-emails
