SAN DIEGO — Former military defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for masterminding a decadelong bribery scheme that swept up dozens of Navy officers, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy and a $150,000 fine, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was also ordered to forfeit $35 million in “ill-gotten proceeds from his crimes,” the statement said.

Prosecutors said the sentence results from Leonard’s first guilty plea in 2015 concerning bribery and fraud, his extensive cooperation with the government since then and another guilty plea Tuesday for failing to appear for his original sentencing hearing in 2022.

Shortly before he was due to be sentenced in September 2022, Leonard cut off a GPS monitor he was wearing while under house arrest and fled the country. He was later arrested in Venezuela and brought back to the U.S. in December 2023.

Sammartino sentenced him to more than 13 1/2 years for the bribery and fraud charges plus 16 months for failing to appear, to be served consecutively.

“Leonard Francis lined his pockets with taxpayer dollars while undermining the integrity of U.S. Naval forces,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in Tuesday’s statement. “The impact of his deceit and manipulation will be long felt, but justice has been served today.”

Prosecutors said Francis’ actions led to one of the biggest bribery investigations in U.S. military history, which resulted in the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges.

Giuliani case: A judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear in a New York courtroom to explain why he missed a deadline to surrender his belongings — including a Mercedes that appeared to be the same car he was spotted in Tuesday — as part of a $148 million defamation judgment.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued the order late Monday after lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss — two former Georgia election workers who were awarded the massive judgment — reported to the court that they went to Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week to see what assets were there, but that it had been cleared out.

Liman had set an Oct. 29 deadline for Giuliani to surrender many of his possessions to representatives for Freeman and Moss, but none of the items has been turned over yet, lawyers for the former election workers said Monday. The judge ordered Giuliani and his lawyers to appear in court on Thursday.

Those possessions include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and a variety of other belongings — from his television to a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio to 26 luxury watches.

Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and longtime ally of Trump, was found liable for defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of ballot fraud during the 2020 election. Giuliani accused them of sneaking in ballots in suitcases, counting ballots multiple times and tampering with voting machines, as he pushed Trump’s unsubstantiated election fraud allegations.

Freeman and Moss said the lies led to death threats against them that made them fear for their lives. A jury awarded them $148 million last year.

Cuba on storm alert: Tropical Storm Rafael chugged past western Jamaica on Tuesday and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it headed toward Cuba.

The storm was located 105 miles east of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday after passing by Jamaica, where little damage was reported. It was picking up speed with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and was moving northwest at 15 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.