The military contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who fled house arrest in San Diego more than a year ago only to be caught in Venezuela, is among 36 detainees who have been released by President Nicolás Maduro as part of a prisoner swap, the White House announced Wednesday.
In exchange, the U.S. released Maduro ally Alex Saab — a Colombian businessman facing money-laundering charges in Miami and the main bargaining chip in longtime talks negotiating such a trade.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the exchange includes 10 Americans who have been jailed in Venezuela — six of whom were “wrongly detained” — as well as Leonard Glenn Francis, the Singapore-based contractor prosecuted in San Diego as the mastermind behind the U.S. Navy’s worst corruption scandal in modern history.
Francis “was extradited from Venezuela so that he will face justice for crimes he committed against the U.S. government and the American people,” Biden said.
Francis, nicknamed for his girth, was brought to Miami, where he is expected to make his first appearance before a judge Thursday.
“Now that Mr. Francis is back in U.S. custody, we look forward to his return to the Southern District of California where he will be held able for his crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath.
The U.S. had long been negotiating for the release of Francis, a Malaysian citizen, as well as several Americans jailed there, including two former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were involved in an attempt to oust Maduro in 2019. Also detained were Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore and Joseph Cristella, who are accused of entering the country illegally from Colombia. More recently, Venezuela arrested Savoi Wright, a 38-year-old California businessman.
Saab, who was arrested on a U.S. warrant for money laundering in 2020 and is being prosecuted in Miami, has long been at the center of those talks. After his arrest, Maduro’s government said Saab was a special envoy on a humanitarian mission and was entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution under international law.
The deal comes just weeks after the U.S. agreed to temporarily suspend some sanctions against Venezuela after Maduro’s socialist government and a faction of its opposition formally resolved to work together on a series of basic conditions for the next presidential election.
“We are ensuring that the Venezuelan regime meets its commitments,” Biden said. “They have announced an electoral roap — agreed to by opposition parties — for competitive presidential elections in 2024. This a positive and important step forward.”
Maduro also released 20 political prisoners as part of the deal, on top of five previously released, Biden confirmed.
“We will continue to monitor this closely and take appropriate action if needed,” he said. “We stand in of democracy in Venezuela and the aspirations of the Venezuelan people.”
Maduro celebrated the return of Saab as a “triumph for truth” over a U.S.-led campaign of lies, threats and torture against someone his government considers a Venezuelan diplomat who was illegally arrested on a U.S. warrant.
“President Biden,” a defiant Maduro said with Saab at his side for a hero’s welcome at the presidential palace, “Venezuela stands strong, following its own model. We won’t be anyone’s colony.”
Francis has been in Venezuela since September 2022.
He pleaded guilty in San Diego in 2015 to corruption charges related to his wide-ranging scheme to bribe Navy officials and overcharge the military for ship-servicing contracts. A gregarious presence at Navy functions and port visits across Southeast Asia, Francis would shower officers with high-end meals, luxury resort stays and the services of prostitutes so they would do his bidding inside the Navy, steering ships to ports he controlled.
But he has avoided sentencing in the case since his 2013 arrest at a downtown San Diego Bay resort. He spent several years as a cooperating witness, interacting heavily with the U.S. government on the continuing investigation and prosecution of dozens of other Navy officials ensnared in his scheme.
Francis was granted release from pre-trial detention in 2018 due to worsening health and eventually moved into a luxurious Carmel Valley-area rental home, complete with hired staff and private security guards — paid for by him — who reportedly rarely interacted with him. He was on medical furlough and monitored by a GPS anklet and Pretrial Services, an arm of the San Diego federal court.
On Sept. 4, 2022, during the lull of Labor Day weekend, he escaped, cutting off his GPS and fleeing across the U.S.-Mexico border weeks before his sentencing date.
He was caught by Interpol in Venezuela 16 days later, before he could fly to his final destination, Russia. It is unclear what kind of custodial circumstances he has faced in Venezuela.
His release from Venezuela notches a win for the U.S. government, just as its prosecution of other Navy officers in the case continues to show cracks.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office asked a San Diego federal judge to dismiss charges entirely against former Navy Cmdr. Stephen Shedd, who pleaded guilty to two bribery charges and testified against other officers at trial last year. Four of those officers were convicted by a jury. But after the U.S. Attorney’s Office itted to “serious issues” in the case, and after a judge concluded that one prosecutor had committed “flagrant misconduct,” the four were allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanors and avoid any prison time.
At a hearing Wednesday to formalize the dismissal request, prosecutors also planned to request that an additional four officers who previously pleaded guilty to felonies be sentenced on reduced misdemeanor charges.
But U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino refused to grant the requests at this time, onishing prosecutors for failing to document their reasons for such a dramatic turn. “This can only be done with fair and just reason,” Sammartino said.
Another hearing has been set for March.
As for Francis, how much prison time — if any — that he might have received before his escape was widely debated. He faced up to 25 years behind bars according to his plea agreement. But his intense cooperation in the case would likely have reduced his exposure. However, he was expected to be the star witness at last year’s trial but was never called by prosecutors — a sign that he had perhaps become a liability for the prosecution and that his usefulness as a cooperator had ended.
Now, the plea deal could be scrapped entirely upon his return, opening him up to more exposure on his original charges as well as new charges that may be filed against him related to his escape.
He will likely need to find new lawyers. Devin Burstein, his San Diego attorney, told the judge following the escape that he and his firm would be filing a motion asking to be taken off the case “based on an irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
