Leonard Glenn Francis, the defense contractor behind the worst bribery and corruption scandal in U.S. Navy history, was supposed to have a new attorney when he showed up to court Thursday, which would have allowed a judge to schedule his long awaited sentencing.
Instead, the man known as ” Fat Leonard,” who was returned to San Diego earlier this year after fleeing house arrest in 2022 and then spending some 15 months in a Venezuelan prison, asked for 60 more days to find a lawyer.
The request seemed to frustrate both federal prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino, who had already given Francis more than a month to find a new lawyer.
“We have to move this forward,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard told the judge.
Sammartino agreed.
“The time has come to … resolve this matter,” she said. She gave Francis another 45 days to find an attorney, telling him that at his next hearing in March, she wants to set a sentencing date.
Francis’ unsettled attorney situation seems to be a direct result of his flight from justice nearly 18 months ago. A few weeks after he fled the country, one of his defense attorneys asked for his firm to be withdrawn “based on an irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
That firm, Warren & Burstein, is still representing Francis for the time being but recently renewed its withdrawal request.
The Malaysian-born Francis was once a powerful military contractor in southeast Asia. He…
