'Fat Leonard' may be Venezuela bargaining chip, experts say

FILE - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows Leonard Francis, also known as"Fat Leonard," who was on home confinement, allegedly cut off his GPS ankle monitor and left his home on the morning of Sept. 4, 2022.

The official, who had been briefed on the case, said now it is up to the United States to make the next move. U.S. authorities have 30 days to formally request his extradition, something that the official viewed as unlikely given that the Biden administration recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido — not Maduro — as the country’s legitimate ruler.

U.S. indictments against Maduro and several members of his inner circle on narco-terrorism or money laundering charges has been a major irritant between the countries. The most serious case involves businessman Alex Saab, who was apprehended on a U.S. warrant in 2020 while making a fuel stop in Cape Verde en route to Iran. Maduro considers Saab a Venezuelan diplomat and has spared no effort fighting to bring him back.

Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 and faced up to 25 years in prison. While awaiting sentencing, he was given home confinement in San Diego to receive medical care. He provided information to U.S. prosecutors that secured the convictions of 33 of 34 defendants. He plied officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines. In exchange, commanders went as far as steering their ships, mostly from the Navy’s 7th Fleet, to ports he controlled so he could cover up as much as $35 million in fake charges.

“What really worried the United States the most was these officers being corrupted by me, that they would be corruptible by the foreign powers,” Francis said in an interview with podcaster Tom Wright, who created a nine-part series on the case last year.

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