Judge dismisses felony convictions of 5 retired military officers in US Navy bribery case

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” in one of the Navy’s biggest corruption cases.

The dismissals came at the request of the government — not the defense — citing prosecutorial errors.

Retired U.S. Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disclosing information on Tuesday, while U.S. Navy officer Stephen Shedd’s entire case was thrown out. Their defense lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment.

It marked the latest setback to the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to defense contractor Leonard Francis, nicknamed “ Fat Leonard.” The enigmatic figure — who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds at one time — owned and operated Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., which supplied food, water and fuel to U.S. Navy vessels.