Scandal helped derail pick for Joint Chiefs
WASHINGTON — When the Pentagon last chose a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was rattled by a last-minute surprise: A corrupt defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” confided to federal agents that he had an unsavory past with one of the finalists to become the nation’s top military officer.
Leonard Glenn Francis, a maritime tycoon who had recently pleaded guilty to bribing Navy officers, told authorities in early 2015 that he had paid for opulent dinners and other favors for Adm. Samuel Locklear, then-commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific, according to previously undisclosed documents and six people familiar with the case.
Francis also shared with investigators photographs of him drinking and socializing with Locklear, who was one of four contenders to head the Joint Chiefs. Some photos were from a banquet in Singapore that Francis had hosted for the admiral and other Navy officers that featured prostitutes as entertainment, according to the documents and people familiar with the case.
Locklear told the Washington Post that he was at the party but was unaware of any prostitutes, and he said he had limited contact with Francis over the years. After separate investigations, the Justice Department declined to press charges, and the Navy cleared the four-star admiral of wrongdoing. But his association with the 350-pound contractor helped sink his chances to lead the Joint Chiefs, other documents show.
Now retired, Locklear is the highest-ranking officer known to have been investigated in what has become the worst corruption scandal in Navy history.
When the still-unfolding scandal became public in 2013, Navy leaders promised transparency and accountability as they vowed to purge crooked officers from the ranks.
Since then, however, the Navy has kept most details of its investigations a secret, including the allegations surrounding Locklear and hundreds of other officers. The Post confirmed Locklear’s involvement through interviews and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against 29 defendants who worked for the Navy or Francis’s company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. But those represent only a fraction swept up in the scandal.
Separately, the Justice Department has provided the Navy with dossiers on 550 people who had contact with Francis — including about 60 admirals — to determine whether they violated military law or ethics rules.
Francis company held lucrative contracts to resupply Navy vessels for more than a quartercentury. He has confessed to swindling the Navy out of $35 million and bribing scores of officers.
Francis remains in custody while he awaits sentencing.