US Navy Commander sentenced in corruption probe

A senior US Navy commander has been sentenced in a high-profile scandal involving leaking classified information, bribery and prostitution.

Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz is the latest officer to be sentenced in a multi-million dollar bribery scandal. He was sentenced Friday to more than six years in prison for leaking classified information to a Malaysian defense contractor in exchange for bribes including paid travel, prostitutes, and concert tickets.

Misiewicz admitted to providing Malaysian businessman Leonard Francis, known to friends as “Fat Leonard,” classified information worth millions of dollars.

The information he gave to Francis included ship movements and helping arrange visits by US Navy vessels to ports where Francis’ company, the Singapore-based Glenn Davis Marine Asia Ltd, had contracts to provide tugboats, security, fuel, waste removal and other services, prosecutors said.

Francis pleaded guilty to bribery in January 2015 and agreed to forfeit $35 million in ill-gotten gains. According to that plea agreement, Francis paid about $500,000 in bribes to Navy officials.

Misiewicz, who was born in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, gained media attention for his rise to captain of a US Navy destroyer.

He is one of 10 people charged in the case.

The commander, who pleaded guilty in January to corruption charges, was also ordered to pay $100,000 in fines and forfeit $95,000 in proceeds from the fraud scheme.

Misiewicz was formerly a deputy operations officer for the US commander of the Seventh Fleet, which oversees operations over some 48 million square miles extending from Japan to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and from Vladivostok, Russia, to Australia.