--- description: A U.S. Navy commander pleaded guilty on Tuesday in connection to a bribery plot. title: Navy Commander Confesses to Bribery Plot image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt006310e0f7fc2936/6987787a428a9e4ba1cc66d2/navy-bribery-scheme_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Navy Commander Confesses to Sordid Bribery and Vice Plot by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2015 3:10 AM CUT  In this photo taken on Nov. 20, 2013, Navy Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, right, walks with unidentified individuals in San Diego, Calif. In this photo taken on Nov. 20, 2013, Navy Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, right, walks with unidentified individuals in San Diego, Calif.John Gastaldo—AP by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2015 3:10 AM CUT A U.S. Navy commander pleaded [guilty](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/227247bf1f5f4f5aa7ab83ea7cc4f576/us-navy-official-change-plea-bribery-scheme "undefined") on Tuesday in connection with a bribery plot in which a Singapore-based military contractor allegedly sought classified information by providing prostitutes and expensive trips to Navy officers. Jose Luis Sanchez, 42, is the top-ranking officer to plead guilty in the high-profile case, which was first made public in 2013 and involves multiple Navy officers, The Associated Press reports. The officer, known as “Fat Leonard” among Navy compatriots, and who has held lofty positions based in Japan and Singapore, could in March be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. In a plea bargain, Sanchez admitted to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes — including a prostitute’s services, a $7,500 trip from the U.S. to Asia, and five days at Singapore’s luxury Shangri-La Hotel — from Leonard Glenn Francis, CEO of Glenn Defense Marine, which provided port services to the Navy in Asia. In exchange, Sanchez gave classified information to Francis that allowed his firm to overbill the Navy by at least $20 million since 2009, prosecutors allege. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3657034/bribery-navy-jose-luis-sanchez/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3657034/bribery-navy-jose-luis-sanchez/"},"headline":"U.S. Navy Commander Confesses to Sordid Bribery and Vice Plot","datePublished":"2015-01-07T03:10:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:21:04.284Z","description":"\"Commander Sanchez sold out his command and country for cash bribes, luxury hotel rooms, and the services of prostitutes,\" alleged Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell","url":"https://time.com/3657034/bribery-navy-jose-luis-sanchez/","keywords":["Military","Navy","bribery"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt006310e0f7fc2936/6987787a428a9e4ba1cc66d2/navy-bribery-scheme_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt006310e0f7fc2936/6987787a428a9e4ba1cc66d2/navy-bribery-scheme_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Navy Bribery Scheme","caption":"Navy Bribery Scheme","creditText":"John Gastaldo—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3657034/bribery-navy-jose-luis-sanchez/","name":"U.S. Navy Commander Confesses to Sordid Bribery and Vice Plot"}}]}] ```