Georgia
Judge sets early 2025 trial for ex-prosecutor charged with meddling in Ahmaud Arbery investigation
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A judge Tuesday set an early 2025 trial date for a former Georgia district attorney charged with interfering with the police investigation into the killing of Ahmaud Arbery,
Jury selection in the criminal misconduct trial of Jackie Johnson is scheduled to begin Jan. 21 in coastal Glynn County, according to an order by Senior Judge John R. Turner. He set a Dec. 11 hearing for attorneys to argue their final pretrial motions.
Johnson was the county’s top prosecutor in February 2020 when Arbery was fatally shot on a residential street as he ran from three white men chasing him in pickup trucks. While Arbery’s pursuers argued they mistakenly believed the 25-year-old Black man was a criminal and that he was shot in self-defense, all three were later convicted of murder and federal hate crimes.
Johnson recused her office from handling the killing because the man who initiated the deadly chase, Greg McMichael, was a retired investigator who had worked for her. His son, Travis McMichael, had shot Arbery at close range with a shotgun. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit and recorded graphic cellphone video of the shooting that leaked online more than two months later.
Johnson was voted out of office months later, a loss she blamed largely in outrage over Arbery’s killing. In September 2021, a grand jury indicted her indicted her on a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of hindering a police officer.
The case has moved a crawl since Johnson was first charged, reported to jail for booking and then released. She has yet to appear in court. The judge’s scheduling order Tuesday was the first action taken since last November, when Turner denied legal motions by Johnson’s lawyers to dismiss the case.
The judge told The Associated Press in September that the delays were unavoidable because one of Johnson’s attorneys, Brian Steel, had spent most of the past two years in an Atlanta courtroom defending Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug in a sprawling racketeering and gang trial.
Turner’s order moving ahead with Johnson’s case came less than a week after Young Thug pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges.
Steel and attorney John Ossick, who also represents Johnson, did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment Tuesday evening.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement that “we look forward to presenting our case in court.”
While the men responsible for Arbery’s death are serving life prison sentences, his family has insisted that justice won’t be complete for them until Johnson stands trial.
“It’s very, very important,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told the AP in September. She did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday.
California
‘Fat Leonard,’ Navy contractor behind one of the military’s biggest scandals, sentenced to 15 years in prison
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Former military defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for masterminding a decade-long bribery scheme that swept up dozens of U.S. Navy officers, federal prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy and a $150,000 fine, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was also ordered to forfeit $35 million in “ill-gotten proceeds from his crimes,” the statement said.
Prosecutors said the sentence resulted from Francis’ first guilty plea in 2015 concerning bribery and fraud, his extensive cooperation with the government since then and another guilty plea Tuesday for failing to appear for his original sentencing hearing in 2022.
Shortly before he was due to be sentenced in September 2022, Francis cut off a GPS monitor he was wearing while under house arrest and fled the country. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the U.S. in December 2023.
Sammartino sentenced him to more than 13 1/2 years for the bribery and fraud charges, plus 16 months for failing to appear. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
“Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of U.S. Naval forces,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in Tuesday’s statement. “The impact of his deceit and manipulation will be long felt, but justice has been served today.”
Email and phone messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for William Douglas Sprague, an attorney for Francis.
Sprague, who sought a sentence of just under nine years, argued that his client’s cooperation should warrant a lesser sentence, 10 News San Diego reported.
Sprague also said Francis’ company provided the Navy with exemplary services for many years.
“Unfortunately, as Leonard acknowledged in his early guilty plea and immediate cooperation, his greed drove him to commit bribery and to commit fraud,” Sprague said.
Prosecutors said Francis’ actions led to one of the biggest bribery investigations in U.S. military history, which resulted in the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges.
An enigmatic figure who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds at one time, Francis owned and operated his family’s ship servicing business, Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. or GDMA, which supplied food, water and fuel to vessels. The Malaysian defense contractor was a key contact for U.S. Navy ships at ports across Asia for more than two decades. During that time, Francis wooed naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines.
In exchange, officers, including the first active-duty admiral to be convicted of a federal crime, concealed the scheme in which Francis would overcharge for supplying ships or charge for fake services at ports he controlled in Southeast Asia. The officers passed him classified information and even went so far as redirecting military vessels to ports that were lucrative for his Singapore-based ship servicing company.
In a federal sting, Francis was lured to San Diego on false pretenses and arrested at a hotel in September 2013. He pleaded guilty in 2015, admitting that he had offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy officials, defense contractors and others. Prosecutors say he bilked the Navy out of at least $35 million. As part of his plea deal, he cooperated with the investigation leading to the Navy convictions. He faced up to 25 years in prison.
While awaiting sentencing, Francis was hospitalized and treated for renal cancer and other medical issues. After leaving the hospital, he was allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor and security guards.
But three weeks before his scheduled sentencing in September 2022, he snipped off his monitor and made a brazen escape, setting off an international search. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela.
He was arrested more than two weeks after his disappearance — caught before he boarded a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.
The cases were handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an effort to be independent of the military justice system. But they have came under scrutiny.
The felony convictions of four former Navy officers were vacated following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Sammartino agreed to allow them to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each.
Last year, Sammartino ruled that the lead federal prosecutor in the officers’ case committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from defense lawyers, but that it was not enough to dismiss the case.
Georgia
6 indicted for allegedly conspiring to kill detention center officers in Georgia
ATLANTA (AP) — Six people, including a detention center officer in Georgia and several members of the GoodFellas gang, have been indicted for allegedly conspiring to kill two of the officer’s co-workers in exchange for money, and for other drug and firearm offenses, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Latasha Baker, 38, of Hampton, Georgia, worked at the Fulton County Jail, and Matthew Freeman, 36, of Glennville, Georgia, was serving a sentence for armed robbery at Valdosta State Prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release. Those two allegedly agreed with pretrial detainee Wayne Alford, 27, of Milledgeville, to hire and pay people to kill at least two detention officers who had interfered with Alford’s contraband and drug trafficking operations, prosecutors said.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to questions about Baker’s employment status. The conspirators communicated using contraband cellphones from inside the jail and prison.
According to the news release, Carlos Pearson, 33, of College Park, and Jayden Barnes, 19, of Atlanta, allegedly agreed to commit the murders for $1,000 each.
The plot was thwarted when the targeted detention officers found tracking devices attached to the bottom of their vehicles.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment on Oct. 22, that was unsealed on Monday.
“It is unthinkable and deplorable that one of our detention officers would conspire to have one or more of her co-workers killed,” Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said. “This indictment underscores the serious nature of the allegations and the importance of accountability. We must ensure that those who are entrusted with public safety adhere to the highest standards of conduct, and any breach of that trust will be met with swift justice.”
Alford, Freeman and Baker each was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
Jaheim Arnold, 21, of Atlanta, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. He was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and one count of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
Pearson and Barnes each was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
“These defendants demonstrated a callous disregard for human life when allegedly plotting to murder detention officers who threatened their illegal drug and contraband activity at the Fulton County Jail,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement.
“No law enforcement officer should have to be fearful for their life simply because they are carrying out their sworn duties,” said Sean Burke, acting special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “We are extremely grateful that this plot was foiled before harm could come to either of the targeted individuals.”
Judge sets early 2025 trial for ex-prosecutor charged with meddling in Ahmaud Arbery investigation
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A judge Tuesday set an early 2025 trial date for a former Georgia district attorney charged with interfering with the police investigation into the killing of Ahmaud Arbery,
Jury selection in the criminal misconduct trial of Jackie Johnson is scheduled to begin Jan. 21 in coastal Glynn County, according to an order by Senior Judge John R. Turner. He set a Dec. 11 hearing for attorneys to argue their final pretrial motions.
Johnson was the county’s top prosecutor in February 2020 when Arbery was fatally shot on a residential street as he ran from three white men chasing him in pickup trucks. While Arbery’s pursuers argued they mistakenly believed the 25-year-old Black man was a criminal and that he was shot in self-defense, all three were later convicted of murder and federal hate crimes.
Johnson recused her office from handling the killing because the man who initiated the deadly chase, Greg McMichael, was a retired investigator who had worked for her. His son, Travis McMichael, had shot Arbery at close range with a shotgun. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit and recorded graphic cellphone video of the shooting that leaked online more than two months later.
Johnson was voted out of office months later, a loss she blamed largely in outrage over Arbery’s killing. In September 2021, a grand jury indicted her indicted her on a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of hindering a police officer.
The case has moved a crawl since Johnson was first charged, reported to jail for booking and then released. She has yet to appear in court. The judge’s scheduling order Tuesday was the first action taken since last November, when Turner denied legal motions by Johnson’s lawyers to dismiss the case.
The judge told The Associated Press in September that the delays were unavoidable because one of Johnson’s attorneys, Brian Steel, had spent most of the past two years in an Atlanta courtroom defending Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug in a sprawling racketeering and gang trial.
Turner’s order moving ahead with Johnson’s case came less than a week after Young Thug pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges.
Steel and attorney John Ossick, who also represents Johnson, did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment Tuesday evening.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement that “we look forward to presenting our case in court.”
While the men responsible for Arbery’s death are serving life prison sentences, his family has insisted that justice won’t be complete for them until Johnson stands trial.
“It’s very, very important,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told the AP in September. She did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday.
California
‘Fat Leonard,’ Navy contractor behind one of the military’s biggest scandals, sentenced to 15 years in prison
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Former military defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for masterminding a decade-long bribery scheme that swept up dozens of U.S. Navy officers, federal prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy and a $150,000 fine, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was also ordered to forfeit $35 million in “ill-gotten proceeds from his crimes,” the statement said.
Prosecutors said the sentence resulted from Francis’ first guilty plea in 2015 concerning bribery and fraud, his extensive cooperation with the government since then and another guilty plea Tuesday for failing to appear for his original sentencing hearing in 2022.
Shortly before he was due to be sentenced in September 2022, Francis cut off a GPS monitor he was wearing while under house arrest and fled the country. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the U.S. in December 2023.
Sammartino sentenced him to more than 13 1/2 years for the bribery and fraud charges, plus 16 months for failing to appear. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
“Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of U.S. Naval forces,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in Tuesday’s statement. “The impact of his deceit and manipulation will be long felt, but justice has been served today.”
Email and phone messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for William Douglas Sprague, an attorney for Francis.
Sprague, who sought a sentence of just under nine years, argued that his client’s cooperation should warrant a lesser sentence, 10 News San Diego reported.
Sprague also said Francis’ company provided the Navy with exemplary services for many years.
“Unfortunately, as Leonard acknowledged in his early guilty plea and immediate cooperation, his greed drove him to commit bribery and to commit fraud,” Sprague said.
Prosecutors said Francis’ actions led to one of the biggest bribery investigations in U.S. military history, which resulted in the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges.
An enigmatic figure who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds at one time, Francis owned and operated his family’s ship servicing business, Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. or GDMA, which supplied food, water and fuel to vessels. The Malaysian defense contractor was a key contact for U.S. Navy ships at ports across Asia for more than two decades. During that time, Francis wooed naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines.
In exchange, officers, including the first active-duty admiral to be convicted of a federal crime, concealed the scheme in which Francis would overcharge for supplying ships or charge for fake services at ports he controlled in Southeast Asia. The officers passed him classified information and even went so far as redirecting military vessels to ports that were lucrative for his Singapore-based ship servicing company.
In a federal sting, Francis was lured to San Diego on false pretenses and arrested at a hotel in September 2013. He pleaded guilty in 2015, admitting that he had offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy officials, defense contractors and others. Prosecutors say he bilked the Navy out of at least $35 million. As part of his plea deal, he cooperated with the investigation leading to the Navy convictions. He faced up to 25 years in prison.
While awaiting sentencing, Francis was hospitalized and treated for renal cancer and other medical issues. After leaving the hospital, he was allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor and security guards.
But three weeks before his scheduled sentencing in September 2022, he snipped off his monitor and made a brazen escape, setting off an international search. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela.
He was arrested more than two weeks after his disappearance — caught before he boarded a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.
The cases were handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an effort to be independent of the military justice system. But they have came under scrutiny.
The felony convictions of four former Navy officers were vacated following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Sammartino agreed to allow them to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each.
Last year, Sammartino ruled that the lead federal prosecutor in the officers’ case committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from defense lawyers, but that it was not enough to dismiss the case.
Georgia
6 indicted for allegedly conspiring to kill detention center officers in Georgia
ATLANTA (AP) — Six people, including a detention center officer in Georgia and several members of the GoodFellas gang, have been indicted for allegedly conspiring to kill two of the officer’s co-workers in exchange for money, and for other drug and firearm offenses, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Latasha Baker, 38, of Hampton, Georgia, worked at the Fulton County Jail, and Matthew Freeman, 36, of Glennville, Georgia, was serving a sentence for armed robbery at Valdosta State Prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release. Those two allegedly agreed with pretrial detainee Wayne Alford, 27, of Milledgeville, to hire and pay people to kill at least two detention officers who had interfered with Alford’s contraband and drug trafficking operations, prosecutors said.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to questions about Baker’s employment status. The conspirators communicated using contraband cellphones from inside the jail and prison.
According to the news release, Carlos Pearson, 33, of College Park, and Jayden Barnes, 19, of Atlanta, allegedly agreed to commit the murders for $1,000 each.
The plot was thwarted when the targeted detention officers found tracking devices attached to the bottom of their vehicles.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment on Oct. 22, that was unsealed on Monday.
“It is unthinkable and deplorable that one of our detention officers would conspire to have one or more of her co-workers killed,” Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said. “This indictment underscores the serious nature of the allegations and the importance of accountability. We must ensure that those who are entrusted with public safety adhere to the highest standards of conduct, and any breach of that trust will be met with swift justice.”
Alford, Freeman and Baker each was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
Jaheim Arnold, 21, of Atlanta, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. He was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and one count of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
Pearson and Barnes each was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
“These defendants demonstrated a callous disregard for human life when allegedly plotting to murder detention officers who threatened their illegal drug and contraband activity at the Fulton County Jail,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement.
“No law enforcement officer should have to be fearful for their life simply because they are carrying out their sworn duties,” said Sean Burke, acting special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “We are extremely grateful that this plot was foiled before harm could come to either of the targeted individuals.”
