SAN DIEGO — The felony convictions of 4 Navy officers in one of many worst bribery circumstances within the maritime department’s historical past had been vacated as a result of prosecutorial misconduct Wednesday, the most recent misstep within the authorities’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of army officers tied to a protection contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard.
U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino known as the misconduct “outrageous” and agreed to permit the 4 males to plead responsible to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 advantageous every.
The shocking flip of occasions occurred at a sentencing listening to in federal courtroom in San Diego for the previous officers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ko, who was introduced on after the officers had been tried final 12 months, admitted to “serious issues” with prosecutorial misconduct and requested the decide to vacate the boys’s convictions.
He mentioned his workplace doesn’t agree with the entire allegations of misconduct however some had been true.
“There were pretty obviously serious issues that affect our ability to go forward” defending the convictions or in search of a brand new trial, Ko advised the decide.
The officers – former Capts. David Newland, James Dolan and David Lausman and former Cmdr. Mario Herrera – had been beforehand convicted by a federal jury on numerous counts of accepting bribes from international protection contractor Leonard Francis, who admitted to bilking the Navy out of greater than $35 million by shopping for off dozens of top-ranking officers with booze, intercourse, lavish events and different presents.
On Wednesday the 4 males pleaded responsible to a cost of destruction of presidency property, in accordance with the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Defense attorneys had lengthy accused the prosecution of mendacity to the courtroom and unfairly pressuring witnesses to testify on the stand to a narrated script.
Francis fled from home arrest in San Diego practically a 12 months in the past in what was additionally seen as a misstep by the prosecution for permitting him to not be held behind bars. He was later captured in Venezuela, the place he stays.
More than two dozen Navy officers, protection contractors and others have been convicted on numerous fraud and corruption prices within the case, which spanned years. It was not instantly clear whether or not Wednesday’s growth might jeopardize the opposite convictions.
A decade in the past, Francis was arrested in a San Diego resort as a part of a federal sting. Investigators say he and his firm, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, bribed officers so he might overcharge for supplying ships or cost for pretend providers at ports he managed in Southeast Asia.
The case, which delved into salacious particulars about service members dishonest on their wives and in search of out prostitutes, was a humiliation to the Pentagon. The U.S. lawyer’s workplace dealt with the prosecution, providing independence from the army justice system.
The U.S. Attorney’s workplace in San Diego didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The Associated Press additionally left messages with lead prosecutor Mark Pletcher and two different prosecutors concerned within the case.
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