Comment on Ex-Defense Department employee sentenced to 6 years

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A retired Department of Defense contracting supervisor was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for accepting bribes from a Malaysian businessman nicknamed "Fat Leonard" who is at the center of the Navy's worst corruption case. Paul Simpkins, who was sentenced in federal court in San Diego, pleaded guilty in June to steering multi-million dollar Navy contracts to Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange for more than $300,000 in payments, the services of prostitutes and other bribes. Francis, whose nickname comes from his large girth, has pleaded guilty to fraud that helped his ship supply company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, bilk the Navy out of nearly $35 million by overcharging the maritime branch and trumping up fees for supplying its ships in the Pacific.Read more on NewsOK.com