Four former U.S. Navy officers convicted in San Diego of accepting bribes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn 'Fat Leonard' Francis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Wednesday.
U.S. 7th Fleet Flagship USS Blue Ridge visits Pyongtaek, Republic of Korea in this undated photo. U.S. Navy officers who had previously served on the USS Blue Ridge have since been caught up in the ongoing Fat Leonard corruption investigation.
Following the former officers' trial, defense attorneys filed a flurry of motions that alleged prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense and prepped witnesses to provide false testimony.U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino, who presided over the trial, accepted the plea agreements reached between the parties, but not before excoriating the prosecution.
The sprawling prosecution largely resulted in plea deals for dozens of other defendants, including Francis, who spent years on house arrest in San Diego before he absconded from his residence and fled the country. Sammartino later ruled the actions constituted"flagrant misconduct" but declined a defense request to dismiss the case.
The attorneys argued in court filings that the agent lied on the stand about where he received hard drives containing documents the prosecution used as evidence in their case. Defense attorneys allege those hard drives came from one of Francis' employees and contained doctored documents.
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