'Fat Leonard' seeks new attorneys ahead of sentencing in US Navy bribery case, causing another delay


SAN DIEGO, United States (AP): Defense contractor Leonard "Fat Leonard" Francis, who fled to South America weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced in one of the biggest bribery schemes in United States military history, said Thursday (Jan 4) that he wants new attorneys now that he is back in US custody after a Venezuelan prisoner swap.

An enigmatic figure, who was 191cm and weighed 159kg at one time, Francis was visibly thinner at the hearing in US District Court. He told the judge he has agreed to end his relationship with Warren & Burstein, the law firm that has represented him during much of the decade-long salacious saga involving dozens of American Navy officers.

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