Navy admiral pleads guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ bribery case

A Navy admiral pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to investigators about his relationship with a Malaysian contractor. He is the highest-ranking Naval officer to face criminal charges in the “Fat Leonard” bribery and fraud scandal that has rocked the service.

Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, 55, admitted he lied to investigators for nearly a year from late 2012 to 2013 about his relationship with Leonard Glenn Francis and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, and what he received from the contractor over the years.

The plea agreement said that when Gilbeau learned in September 2013 that Francis had been arrested in San Diego for orchestrating a years-long bribery scheme, he destroyed computer files and other documents presumably showing his connection to the businessman.

Unlike other, lower-ranking Navy officers and sailors who have been charged or indicted in the investigation, Gilbeau was not charged with bribery, conspiracy or fraud.

Court documents shed little light on what, exactly, Gilbeau took from Francis and what he gave the voluble businessman in return.

So far, 14 people have been charged in the case, including 11 current or former service members. In the previous cases, prosecutors described in some detail the bevy of gifts — cash payments, the services of prostitutes hired by Francis, all-expenses paid stays at lavish hotels, fancy dinners at exotic ports of call — that each defendant received.

They also described what Francis got: classified information on ship schedules and the assistance of officers to influence Navy decisions to steer ships to ports in Asia that Francis’ company controlled — and which allowed him to bilk and overbill the Navy to the tune of at least $34 million.

Outside court, Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Pletcher said Gilbeau admitted to lying to investigators in a premeditated effort to “distance himself from Leonard Francis, and GDMA.” He said Gilbeau’s rank was not a factor.

“He’s being treated like everyone else is being treated,” Pletcher said.

Gilbeau, who has been in the Navy 37 years, declined to comment. His attorney, Dave Benowitz, said in a statement that his client “accepts responsibility for the decisions he made and for his conduct.”

The plea agreement said that on a disclosure questionnaire submitted to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in November 2012, Gilbeau lied when he wrote he had never received any gifts from Francis or his company.

At the time, GDMA was already under scrutiny by the Navy for overbilling and fraud.

In an interview with agents the following February, Gilbeau said he met with Francis three times a year, but that he always paid for his half of dinner.

Then in October, a month after he had destroyed the documents and computer files, Gilbeau was again interviewed by agents for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and he again “misrepresented and misstated the nature of his relationship with and his receipt of things of value over the course of years from Francis and GDMA,” court documents say.

The plea agreement requires Gilbeau to pay restitution of $50,000 to the government, although it is unclear if that is the amount of gifts he received, the loss to the government or a combination of both.

Gilbeau’s guilty plea may signal that the long-running investigation is working up the chain of command to the top levels of the service. So far, the Navy has censured three admirals for their connections to Francis, but those were not criminal charges.

Francis has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com

Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.