US Navy captain jailed over massive bribery scandal in Pacific
Saturday 26 March 2016 00.56 EDT
A Navy captain who oversaw operations in the US Pacific Fleet has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for providing classified information to a Malaysian defence contractor in exchange for luxury hotel stays and the services of prostitutes.
Captain Daniel Dusek, 49, is the highest-ranking officer to be charged in one of the military’s worst bribery scandals.
A US judge also ordered Dusek to pay a $70,000 fine and $30,000 in restitution to the Navy for giving ship and submarine schedules to help contractor Leonard Glenn Francis.
Francis pleaded guilty in the case in 2015, admitting that his Singapore-based port services company, Glenn Defence Marine Asia (GDMA) plied Dusek and others with meals, alcohol, luxury hotel stays and other gifts to ensure US Navy ships stopped at ports where GDMA operated.
GDMA over-billed the maritime branch by more than $34m, according to court documents.
“It’s truly unimaginable to the court that someone in your position with the United States Navy would sell out based on what was provided to you – hotel rooms, entertainment and the services of prostitutes,” US district judge Janis L Sammartino told Dusek, adding that he “potentially jeopardised national security.”
Dusek told the federal court in San Diego that he will never forgive himself for his actions, which spanned a seven-month period starting in July 2010. His lawyer pointed out that Dusek turned himself in.
“I will hold this guilt in my heart for the rest of my life,” he told the judge before being sentenced.
Francis, known as “Fat Leonard” in military circles, has acknowledged bribing navy officials with more than $500,000 in cash and a staggering amount of luxury goods worth millions, including prostitution services, spa treatments, top-shelf alcohol, ornamental swords and handmade ship models.
Ten people have been charged in the case, including five navy officials, and nine defendants have pleaded guilty.
GDMA has provided fuel, food and other services to navy ships in Asia for two decades.
Prosecutor Mark Pletcher said Dusek used his position to influence admirals to re-route ships to ports either owned by Francis or with lax oversight so fake tariffs and other fees could be imposed without being detected.
Dusek gave GDMA ship and submarine schedules dozens of times, and he deleted his email account to avoid detection, Pletcher said.
“He was the golden goose to GDMA,” Pletcher said.
After Dusek got a US aircraft carrier re-routed to a Malaysian port owned by Francis in 2010, the defence contractor said in an email that the captain “is a golden asset to drive the big decks (aircraft carriers) into our fat revenue GDMA ports,” according to the plea agreement.
GDMA paid for a hotel for Dusek and his family at the Marriott Waikiki in Hawaii in July 2010. A few weeks later the company got him a hotel room at the Shangri-La in Makati, Philippines, and provided him with the services of a prostitute, according to the plea agreement.
Soon after, Dusek used his influence to steer the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its associated strike group to Port Klang, Malaysia, a port owned by Francis.
The port visit in October 2010 cost the United States about $1.6m, according to court documents.
The U.S. military has stepped up investigations of high-ranking officers for sexual assault, records show, curtailing its traditional deference toward senior leaders as it cracks down on sex crimes.
ReplyDeleteSince September, the armed forces have court-martialed or filed sexual-assault charges against four colonels from the Air Force, Army and Marines. In addition, a Navy captain was found guilty of abusive sexual contact during an administrative hearing.
Historically, it has been extremely rare for senior military officers to face courts-martial. Leaders suspected of wrongdoing are usually dealt with behind the scenes, with offenders receiving private reprimands or removal from command with a minimum of public explanation.
“There’s not a lot of transparency when it comes to senior-
officer misconduct,” said Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force who now is president of Protect Our Defenders, a group that advocates for victims of sex crimes in the military. “They don’t like the American public knowing what’s going on, so they drag their heels in getting information out.”
That has gradually changed as the Defense Department — under pressure from Congress and the White House — has revamped its policies to prevent sexual assault and to hold perpetrators accountable.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/more-high-ranking-officers-being-charged-with-sex-crimes-against-subordinates/2016/03/19/3910352a-e616-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
This month, during a court-martial at Fort McNair in Washington, an Army colonel who worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl and taking photos of her nude. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
DeleteIn February, the Marine Corps charged the commander of its Wounded Warrior Regiment with sexually assaulting a female corporal, violating protective orders and other misconduct.
In January, at a disciplinary hearing, the Navy found the former captain of a guided missile cruiser guilty of abusive sexual contact and sexual harassment. An investigative report chronicled in embarrassing detail how he got drunk with crew members at a Virginia bar and brazenly pressured a junior officer to have sex with him to advance her career.
DeleteIn December, the Air Force charged a colonel at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado with raping or assaulting four victims, committing adultery with four other women, and taking photographs of himself in uniform at his office — with his genitals exposed.
Crew members from the U.S.S. Anzio, a guided missile cruiser, blew the whistle on their commanding officer for sexual misconduct last year, leading to his removal from the ship and his probable ouster from the Navy.
DeleteAccording to a Navy investigative report, the Anzio’s captain, Brian K. Sorenson, got drunk Aug. 30 at a pub party in Yorktown, Va., and began to make advances toward a female sailor who needed his approval to become certified as a surface warfare officer.
The sailor told investigators that Sorenson asked her how many people she had slept with, whether she liked having sex with women and whether she would let him have anal sex with her.
Her account was buttressed by an eyewitness who said he overheard the captain saying, “Does anal interest you?”
During a court-martial at Fort McNair last week, Army Col. James C. Laughrey, a career intelligence official, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and abusive sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.
DeleteAccording to court documents, his actions started in 2009 and came to light years later only by chance. The victim, then a young adult, took a polygraph test during a job interview with an intelligence agency and was asked if she had ever been the victim of a crime.
The Marine Corps filed criminal sex-abuse charges on Feb. 12 against Col. T. Shane Tomko, the former commander of its Wounded Warrior Regiment in Quantico, Va.
ReplyDeleteThe Marines kept the charges a secret, making no public announcement about the case. In response to a query from The Post last month, Marine officials at the Pentagon confirmed that Tomko had been charged with abusive sexual contact, obstruction of justice, illegal possession of steroids and other crimes.
Officials also revealed that Tomko had been relieved as commander a year earlier because of “a loss of confidence in his leadership.” But they would not provide other details or release public records in the case.
According to a copy of Tomko’s charging documents, seen by a Post reporter, the colonel was accused of sexually assaulting a female Marine corporal in October 2014 by forcibly kissing her on the mouth. He later referred to her as “a hot intriguing dyke who makes me wish I were a woman,” according to the documents.
Tomko faces a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 23 to determine if he will be court-martialed.
His military defense attorney, Marine Col. Stephen Newman, declined to comment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/more-high-ranking-officers-being-charged-with-sex-crimes-against-subordinates/2016/03/19/3910352a-e616-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
"Different Spanks for Different Ranks"
ReplyDeleteEnlisted personnel would be sent to long hard time in prison.
Just a few more reasons why we have to dump “the warriors” and return to a citizen soldier model for the US military.
ReplyDeleteWe can start by arbitrarily cutting the Pentagon to a third of its present size and cut the War Budget by 50%. Let a new breed of Leaders figure out as to how to get better defense and fire the assholes that get in the way of reforms. Every dollar saved should be used to improve US infrastructure.
DeleteYou can’t cut overseas bases deep enough and fast enough.
And quit being stupid and thanking every fool in a uniform for his service. Thank a teacher, a cop or a firemen if you are so compelled.
ReplyDeleteAsk them why they wear combat battle fatigues while traveling in US airports or going to the 711.
Iraq continues to suffer from the results of our decision to destabilize it.
ReplyDeleteThe village of Al-Asriya, south of Baghdad, prepared Saturday to bury its sons, killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up after a football tournament.
The attacker, who himself looks like a teenager on a photo distributed by the Islamic State group that claimed the attack, cut through the crowd when trophies were being presented.
"There are 32 dead and also 84 wounded, 12 of whom are in critical condition," an official in Babil province health directorate told AFP.
"Seventeen of those killed are boys aged between 10 and 16," the official said.
The village of Al-Asriya lies near Iskandariyah, a town about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the capital.
The bomber detonated his suicide vest late afternoon on Friday as local officials were handing trophies to the players after a local tournament.
A video posted on social media shows a local official speaking in front of a table covered with trophies and calling out the name of a player before a huge blast.
The footage cuts off with a big flash of yellow light.
"The suicide bomber cut through the crowd to approach the centre of the gathering and blew himself up as the mayor was presenting awards to the players," Ali Nashmi, an 18-year-old eyewitness, told AFP.
The mayor, Ahmed Shaker, was among the dead, as was one of his bodyguards and at least five members of the security forces.
Pictures posted on social media of the blast site showed mangled goal posts smeared with blood.
Is J. Paul Bremer still painting his ghastly landscapes?
DeleteYou can’t overstate the profound stupidity of attacking a poor country, firing 400,000 soldiers, their entire military force and sending them home with no money, their weapons and with no hope of getting a job.
DeleteCan anyone be more ignorant and criminally incompetent than that red tied, blue suited asshole trying to look taller in his brand new wolverine work boots?
And the best we can do is choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?
ReplyDelete.
DeleteThat is, the choice between the Psychopath and the Sociopath.
This is not a medical diagnosis but rather a literal one as both these people display key aspects respectively of the literal definitions of these words.
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Don't forget Ted Cruz still has a chance.....!
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to criminal abuse in the military,
It has always been the same when people with power positions decide to take advantage of those below them or those who are powerless.
Having a conscript army, though in my opinion a necessity, will not stop the abuse. Also, IMO, the examples you gave of firemen, policemen, or teachers implies they are somehow different than the military is a bit naive. There is a certain percentage of society as a whole that when given positions of power over others will abuse it. Much more than we are aware of. They are protected by old boys networks as in the military or by union contracts as with teachers and others.
The abuse of power runs all the way to the top as we have seen with the current administration where no one as been punished for anything though corruption and incompetence runs rampart through all departments. Well, unless you count Petraeus who was given 2 years probation for passing on classified info to a reporter that included notes on meetings with the commander-in-chief, strategy and tactics, and battle plans all so he could burnish his image in the press, sell books, and dip his stick in said reporter.
Oh, and though a definite rarity in this administration, there were a couple low level clerks they tried to blame the affair on. Their punishment? They got moved to another job. No pay cut. No loss of rank or benefits.
Kind of reminded me of
Chet Wallaby
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https://meh.com/forum/topics/chet-wallaby----scapegoat-for-little-cesar
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Deletesorry,
...there were a couple low level clerks they tried to blame the Benghazi affair on...
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