San Diego

Former US Navy Commander Pleads Guilty in Contractor Bribery Scandal

A Former United States Navy Commander pled guilty Tuesday to federal bribery charges stemming from an investigation involving former defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as "Fat Leonard."

Commander Troy Amundson, 50, of Minnesota, admitted that he conspired with Francis and others to receive entertainment expenses and the service of prostitutes in exchange for taking official acts for the benefit of Francis' Singapore-based company Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA).

Amundson pled guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. In court, he admitted that from September 2012 to October 2013, Francis paid for dinner, entertainment and prostitutes for himself and other Navy officers. He also admitted to violating his official duties to the U.S. Navy.

Amundson was responsible for coordinating the Navy's joint military exercises with foreign partners and was in charge of building and maintaining cooperative relationships with those partners

According to the U.S. Attorney Southern District of California, Amundson sent an email from a private account to Francis arranging to provide him with proprietary Naval information.

The email read in part:

“Handoff?... [M]y [friend], your program is awesome. I [Amundson] am a small dog just trying to get a bone… however I am very happy with my small program. I still need five minutes to pass some data when we can meet up. Cannot print.”

Later that same day, Francis arranged services of several prostitutes from Mongolia for Amundson.

Sentencing for Amundson is scheduled for April 27.

Francis pled guilty in 2015 to bribery and fraud charges and admitted to presiding over a decade-long conspiracy involving "scores" of Naval officials, tens of millions of dollars in fraud and millions of dollars in bribes.

So far, 20 of the 29 defendants charged in relation to the bribery scandal, including other Navy personnel, have pled guilty.

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