On Friday, U.S. Navy Captain Daniel Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in prison. He gave out classified information in exchange for hookers, booze, and luxury travel. Dusek has been in the Navy since 1989.
He was not working alone. He is the highest ranking official charged in this ten person scheme. Nine of the people involved have pleaded guilty; one is still awaiting trial. They used the foreign defense contractor, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), to provide port service to Navy ships. GDMA is based in Singapore; Dusek used them in a scheme to steal millions from the U.S. Navy. Dusek personally handed Navy ship schedules to a GDMA office in Japan. Dusek has been ordered to pay $100,000 in fees and restitution. He was told to report to prison on June 15.
The judge, Janis Sammartino, gave Dusek a more strict sentence than what the prosecutor was going for. She had this to say to Dusek:
“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. [Dusek’s actions] potentially jeopardized national security.”
Dusek hinted that there are even higher officers involved in the scandal. He said a senior officer took Daniel to meet the owner of GDMA, Leonard Glenn Francis (a.k.a. Fat Leonard). The senior officer described Francis as a friend of the Navy.
Francis pleaded guilty to bribery charges last year. He “softened” Navy personnel by offering prostitutes, envelopes full of cash, and vacations at fancy resorts. Francis even purchased an old British navy vessel and converted it into a “party boat” for U.S. Navy members to use.
Dusek has claimed that alcohol, work stress, and family problems made him “vulnerable” to bribery. These were his excuses to sell U.S. secrets. Obviously the judge didn’t buy it. The prosecution was suggesting 27 months in prison, but the judge increased it to 46 months.
Featured image by Defence Images via flickr, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
