Navy commander sentenced to 78 months in bribery scandal
SAN DIEGO -- A federal judge has sentenced a U.S. Navy commander to 78 months in prison for providing classified ship schedules in exchange for the services of a prostitute, theater tickets and other gifts from a Malaysian defense contractor who overbilled the maritime branch by more than $34 million.
Captain-select Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, 48, was sentenced in federal court Friday in San Diego on one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery.
His sentence is the longest one handed out so far in one of the worst bribery scandals to rock the Navy.
Misiewicz pleaded guilty to providing classified information to Leonard Glenn Francis, whose Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia, or GDMA, used it to beat out competitors and overbill the Navy by submitting fake tariffs and port fees.
In a criminal complaint filed in 2013, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez was accused of accepting prostitutes, $100,000 cash and other bribes from Leonard Glenn Francis, the CEO of Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., or GDMA.
Prosecutors said that in exchange, Sanchez passed on classified U.S. Navy information to the Malaysian contractor, whose company has serviced Navy ships in the Pacific for 25 years and is accused of overbilling the Pentagon by millions.
"According to the allegations in this case, a number of officials were willing to sacrifice their integrity and millions of taxpayer dollars for personal gratification," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said after Wednesday's arrest.
Navy Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz -- like Sanchez, was accused of giving Francis' company confidential information about Navy ship routes -- and a senior Navy investigator, John Beliveau II.
Prosecutors accused Beliveau, 44, of keeping Francis abreast of the bribery probe and advising him on how to respond in exchange for such things as prostitution services.
GDMA overcharged the Navy millions of dollars for fuel, food and other services it provided, and invented tariffs by using phony port authorities, prosecutors claimed.
Misiewicz and Francis moved Navy vessels like chess pieces, diverting aircraft carriers, destroyers and other ships to Asian ports with lax oversight where Francis could inflate costs, the criminal complaint alleges.
Francis, 49, was arrested in San Diego in September. A few weeks later, authorities arrested his company's general manager of global government contracts, Alex Wisidagama, 40.
They all initially pleaded not guilty.
Court records allege that Sanchez regularly emailed Francis internal Navy discussions about GDMA, including legal opinions, and made recommendations in GDMA's favor about port visits and Navy personnel assignments.
The conspiracy began in January 2009, when Sanchez was the deputy logistics officer for the commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, according to the charging documents.
Francis, who was known in Navy circles as "Fat Leonard," hired prostitutes for Sanchez and friends on multiple occasions, according to the investigation.