Navy Admiral to Plead Guilty to Lying in Bribery Probe

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Navy Admiral to Plead Guilty to Lying in Bribery Probe

By JULIE WATSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN DIEGO — Jun 9, 2016, 4:55 PM ET

A Navy admiral will plead guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating a Malaysian contractor known as "Fat Leonard," his attorney said, making him the highest-ranking military official to be taken down in the wide-spanning $34 million fraud scheme that has shaken the Navy.

It is extremely rare for an admiral to even face criminal proceedings.

Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau planned to enter his plea at a federal court hearing in San Diego on Thursday to one count of making a false statement, said defense attorney David Benowitz.

"Rear Admiral Gilbeau did in fact make a false statement during the course of an important investigation," Benowitz said in a statement. "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.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/navy-admiral-plead-guilty-lying-bribery-probe-39736126

[nitpicker]

1. From the DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-navy-admiral-pleads-guilty-lying-federal-investigators-about-his-relationship-foreign

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U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau pleaded guilty today in federal court to charges that he lied to federal investigators to conceal his illicit years-long relationship with Leonard Glenn Francis, owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), the foreign defense contractor at the center of a massive bribery and fraud scandal.
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In his plea agreement, Gilbeau admitted that he lied when he told agents from DCIS and NCIS that he had never received any gifts from Francis, the owner of Singapore-based GDMA. Gilbeau also admitted that he lied when he told investigators that he “always paid for half of the dinner” when he and Francis met about three times a year. Gilbeau further admitted that when he became aware that Francis and others had been arrested in connection with the fraud and bribery offenses in September 2013, he destroyed documents and deleted computer files. Francis previously pleaded guilty to plying scores of other U.S. Navy officials with gifts such as luxury travel, meals, cash, electronics, parties and prostitutes.

According to his plea, in 2003 and 2004, Gilbeau was the supply officer on the USS Nimitz, where he was responsible for procuring all goods and services necessary for operation of the ship. He later served as head of the Tsunami Relief Crisis Action Team in Singapore, heading the Navy’s logistics response to the Southeast Asia tsunami in December 2004, and in June 2005, Gilbeau was assigned to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations as the head of aviation material support, establishing policies and requirements for budgeting and acquisitions for the Navy’s air forces, according to the plea agreement.

In August 2010, after he was promoted to admiral, Gilbeau assumed command of the Defense Contract Management Agency International, where he was responsible for the global administration of DOD’s most critical contracts performed outside the United States, according to admissions made in connection with his plea.
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