Contractor Leonard flees house arrest, is recaptured and seeks clemency

Leonard Glenn Francis, the contractor at the center of a long-running Navy bribery scandal, described how he removed an ankle monitor in 2022, crossed into Mexico, flew to Cuba, and reached Venezuela before being detained and returned in a prisoner swap. He pleaded guilty years earlier to bribery and fraud and received a 15-year sentence after judges cited his escape; prosecutors had acknowledged his extensive cooperation. Francis now seeks a presidential pardon, citing stage 4 kidney cancer and arguing that Justice Department errors tainted prosecutions that let many other officers avoid prison.

Fat Leonard escaped house arrest in 2022 and was later recaptured.