SAN DIEGO (KNX) — A U.S. naval officer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal bribery and conspiracy charges after allegedly accepting gifts in exchange for assisting a foreign defense contractor.
Stephen Shedd, who served as the Seventh Fleet South Asia Policy and Planning Officer, and later as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Milius guided missile destroyer, admitted in San Diego federal court to accepting bribes in exchange for passing Singapore-based contractor Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis information regarding ship schedules and movements.
Francis allegedly provided Shedd and other officers with expensive meals, high-end hotel stays, encounters with sex workers, and other gifts in exchange for the intel. Shedd admitted in his own plea agreement to accepting, among other things, luxury Ulysse Nardin watches for him and his wife with $25,000.
In Shedd's role as South Asia Policy and Planning Officer, he was "responsible for identifying ports that U.S. Navy ships would visit consistent with U.S. Navy engagement priorities," according to a 2017 indictment filed against him and other officers who received bribes from Francis.
More than two dozen other people have also pleaded guilty in the case, many of them Seventh Fleet members. Francis has also pleaded guilty for his involvement in the scheme, and awaits sentencing.
Shedd will return to court in July for sentencing.
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