​Navy admiral pleads guilty to lying in bribery probe

SAN DIEGO -- A Navy admiral on Thursday pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating a $34 million fraud scheme involving a Malaysian contractor known as "Fat Leonard."

Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau is the highest-ranking military official to be taken down in the wide-spanning scandal. He is also believed to be the first active-duty Naval flag officer to be charged in federal court.

"Rear Admiral Gilbeau did in fact make a false statement during the course of an important investigation," defense attorney David Benowitz said in a statement before the hearing. "In this unfortunate situation, he accepts responsibility for the decisions he made and for his conduct."

Benowitz declined to comment further on what the lie involved. Gilbeau faces anywhere from probation to several months in jail, but Benowitz said he would "fight hard" to ensure his client -- a decorated Naval officer -- does not spend any time behind bars.

Gilbeau has been charged with lying to investigators, but not with accepting bribes like other Navy officers in the case.

Three Navy admirals have been censured for accepting gifts and dinners that cost thousands of dollars from the contractor, who was convicted of bribing officials to get classified information used to overcharge the Navy.

In April, a federal judge sentenced a 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.

Captain-select Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, 48, 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.

Francis, who was known in Navy circles as "Fat Leonard" because of his girth, hired prostitutes for Sanchez and friends on multiple occasions, according to the investigation.

Prosecutors have said they are investigating as many as 200 people in one of the Navy's worst corruption cases.

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