The man who once was in charge of public affairs for the U.S. Pacific Fleet will go to prison for secretly moonlighting for a foreign defense contractor who bribed senior Navy officials and overcharged the Pentagon.
The bribery scheme involving Leonard 'Fat Leonard' Francis spanned a decade and included dozens of U.S. Navy officials including commanders and admirals. Francis successfully overcharged the Pentagon by tens of millions of dollars after bribing key Navy personnel with everything from travel and hotel stays to alcohol and prostitutes.
Former U.S. Navy Capt. Jeffrey Breslau, 52, was sentenced Friday to six months in custody, fined $20,000, ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and pay $65,000 in restitution to the U.S. Navy.
He is the 18th current or former U.S. Navy official to plead guilty in the investigation, federal prosecutors said. As of February 2019, 33 defendants have been charged and 22 have pleaded guilty.
The Cumming, Georgia man served as the Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, headquartered in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii from Oct. 2009 to July 2012. After that, he was assigned to the Commanding Officer for the Joint Public Affairs Support Element in Norfolk, Virginia.
Part of his duties from Aug. 2012 to July 2014 was to lead joint crisis communications teams.
However, Breslau pleaded guilty in November to a conflict of interest, admitting that from March 2012 until Sept. 2013 he was also secretly working for Francis.
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He was paid more than $65,000 to write talking points for Francis to use when he negotiated contracts with high-ranking Navy personnel.
“Breslau was secretly advocating for Leonard Francis behind the backs of his Navy colleagues,” U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. said Friday in a written release.
Breslau is now retired.
