The dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) steams alongside the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) during a replenishment-at-sea in 2019. US Navy Photo
A former Military Sealift Command ship captain admitted he received high-speed rail travel and hotel stays, an iPad and expenses for a two-week, holiday family trip to South Korea in exchange for giving a South Korea-based husbanding company details about scheduled port visits. Read More
Undated photo of Leonard Francis
The Secretary of the Navy administratively punished a senior captain described as a linchpin in a corruption scandal that defrauded the U.S. government of more than $34.8 million and ensnared dozens of commanders and officials in the bribery and fraud investigation, according to letters obtained by USNI News. Read More
Undated photo of Leonard Francis
This post has been updated to note that USNI News reached out to the Department of Justice for comment prior to publication of this story. Additionally, an attorney representing Leonard Francis provided comment following publication of an earlier version of this story.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The investigation into the web of corruption spun by contractor Leonard Francis has wreaked havoc on the Navy’s ability to fill senior leadership roles, unintentionally stalled hundreds of officers’ careers and thinned out the service’s flag ranks, USNI News has learned. Read More
Several high profile legal actions for the Navy occurred in 2018 from the ongoing Fat Leonard investigation to several special operations cases and the ongoing accountability actions for the Western Pacific destroyer collisions that killed 17 sailors. Read More
Rear Adm. Mark C. Montgomery, U.S. Pacific Command Director of Operations, gives his remarks during his Aug. 18, 2017, retirement ceremony aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) Memorial. Montgomery is retiring after 32 years of naval service. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated with a redacted copy of the letter of censure.
Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer censured a now-retired rear admiral for his involvement nearly a decade ago with a defense contractor indicted in a bribery and fraud investigation that’s netted several dozen officials, including flag and commanding officers. Read More
Undated photo of Leonard Francis
A former Navy public affairs officer pleaded guilty to a conflict-of-interest charge on Tuesday, admitting to a federal judge in San Diego his role in the continuing “Fat Leonard” Navy corruption investigation. Read More
Then Capt. David Haas. US Navy Photo
A retired captain and former 7th Fleet official pocketed at least $145,000 in exchange for steering Navy ships to ports where a foreign defense contractor managed port husbanding services, a federal grand jury alleged in an indictment issued Friday in San Diego in the latest in the ongoing probe into Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Read More
Then Cmdr. Jesus Cantu, the Officer-in-Charge aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE-7) in 2005. US Navy Photo
A former deputy commander of Military Sealift Command-Far East on Friday pleaded guilty to a charge that he accepted prostitutes, meals and other gifts worth at least $15,000 in exchange for divulging sensitive U.S. fleet information to a Singapore-based contractor, U.S. officials announced. Read More
Cmdr. David Morales, assigned to Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, view the salvage of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Ship Cheonan (PCC-772) in 2015. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information from Monday’s Article 32 Hearing.
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VA. – The first officer to be charged for crimes related to the wide-ranging Glenn Defense Marine Asia case by the military faced an Article 32 hearing on Monday. Read More
The scandal embroiling Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis’s company, Glenn Marine Defense Asia and several high-ranking U.S. Navy officers outlined in the charges in the indictment that was unsealed on March 14, 2017 that unfolded over eight years. Here is a timeline of what the government alleges. Read More
