A U.S. Navy officer was sentenced in federal court on Friday to 40 months in prison for accepting cash, hotel expenses and the services of a prostitute in return for providing classified U.S. Navy ship and submarines schedules and other internal Navy information to a foreign defense contractor.
Lt. Cmdr. Todd Dale Malaki, 44, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
As part of his guilty plea, Malaki admitted that in 2006, while he was working as a supply officer for the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, he began a corrupt relationship with "Fat Leonard" Glenn Francis, the former president and CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a company that provided services to the U.S. Navy.
During Friday's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino noted that the 40-month prison sentence was warranted because Malaki's conduct was not a momentary lapse of judgment but long-term corruption that spanned more than seven years.
The judge described Malaki's case as "one of the most serious offenses the court has seen in its tenure in the Southern District of California."
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Malaki to pay a $15,000 fine and pay $15,000 in restitution to the Navy. The defendant was ordered to report for custody on May 2.
As part of the scheme, Malaki provided Francis with classified U.S. Navy ship and submarine schedules and proprietary invoicing information about GDMA's competitors. In exchange, Malaki admitted, Francis provided him with luxury hotel nights on at least a dozen occasions in Singapore, Hong Kong and the island of Tonga, as well as envelopes of cash, entertainment expenses and the services of a prostitute.
Malaki is the second defendant to be sentenced in the investigation of corruption and fraud in the U.S. Navy. Last week, U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug was sentenced to 27 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bribery.
To date, 10 people have been charged in connection with the scheme; of those, nine have pleaded guilty, including Malaki, Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, Capt. Daniel Dusek, NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau, Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez and Layug, as well as GDMA executives Francis, Alex Wisidagama and Edmond Aruffo. Former Department of Defense civilian employee Paul Simpkins is awaiting trial.
