‘Fat Leonard’ nabbed in Venezuela after fleeing US Navy trial

Leonard Glenn Francis fled the US earlier this month ahead of sentencing for his role in a massive bribery scandal. An international manhunt was launched for Leonard Glenn Francis earlier this month after he fled the US ahead of his scheduled sentencing for his role in the massive bribery scandal involving dozens of US naval officials. Francis’s arrest came on the eve of his scheduled sentencing in a federal court in California for a bribery scheme that lasted more than a decade and involved dozens of US Navy officers. At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, US District Court Judge Janis Sammartino announced to the court that Francis was in custody in Venezuela and that a “no bail arrest warrant” had been issued. Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering prostitution services, luxury travel and hotels, lavish meals and more than $500,000 in bribes to US Navy officials and others to help his Singapore-based ship servicing company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd or GDMA, secure lucrative US naval contracts.