By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

The Leonard Francis Investigation

The investigation into the corruption scandal began in 2013 and touched on capitals and ports across the Pacific, including Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Manila. During the probe, multiple Navy officials were arrested and accused of accepting cash, prostitutes, and all-expenses-paid trips in exchange for steering ships to ports where Francis’ contracting company operated, providing services such as fuel and tugboats.

Francis escaped from home confinement on September 4, 2022, and flew to Mexico and then to Cuba. The Cuban government refused to let him remain in the country, and Francis traveled next to Caracas, Venezuela, where he was apprehended by Interpol on September 20, 2022, while waiting for a flight to Russia. The United States quickly began negotiating with the Maduro regime in Venezuela for his return, but fractured diplomatic relations had impeded the extradition process. After a year of negotiations between the United States and Venezuela, Maduro agreed to a prisoner swap. After the exchange, Francis was extradited to Miami on December 21, 2023, and then transferred to authorities in San Diego in early January 2024.(1)

Francis entered Venezuela after traveling through Mexico and Cuba and was arrested at Simón Bolívar International Airport while attempting to travel to Russia, according to a social media post from Venezuelan law enforcement.

It was unclear whether and how quickly Venezuelan authorities may cooperate with the US government’s request for extradition. While the two nations have an extradition treaty, it only covers a limited series of offenses. The Biden administration’s refusal to recognize the regime of Nicolás Maduro could pose diplomatic challenges to the US Justice Department’s request for cooperation from Venezuelan authorities.

Although there had been convictions in June 2022, regarding the bribery cases of former Captains David Newland, James Dolan, and David Lausman, and ex-Commander Mario Herrera, Judge Sammartino reversed their verdicts on September 6, 2023, and allowed them to plead to misdemeanors and pay fines of $100 apiece.(2)

On January 4, 2024, in a case that has been going on for years, the government asked U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino to set a new sentencing date immediately to avoid delays, but the judge postponed a decision based on a request by Francis’ legal team to withdraw from the case in the aftermath of his disappearance. The judge set a status hearing for February 8, 2024, at 9 a.m.

Then On 22 March 2024, Leonard Glenn Francis asked a San Diego federal judge to give him three more months to hire a new lawyer ahead of a sentencing hearing that's been delayed almost nine years.

Whereby U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino next ordered Francis' former attorneys, who were not in court Wednesday but are still listed as representing him on the court docket, to appear with Francis at a hearing in two weeks.

The case thereby remains ongoing.

1. 'Fat Leonard' Extradition Gives Maduro Regime an Edge in Redefining Relations with U.S., Says Legal Expert,Sam LaGrone, October 27, 2022

2.  convictions thrown out in 'Fat Leonard' case after prosecutor misconduct,María Luisa Paúl & Craig Whitlock, September 7, 2023

 

 

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