Another corrupt stain on the Navy is going to jail! This time a senior enlisted!
Indicted a few months ago, along with a Commander and another senior enlisted, HERE.
A retired master chief pleaded guilty in San Diego last week to taking kickbacks and became the latest casualty in the Navy’s ongoing “Fat Leonard” public corruption scandal.
Ricarte I. David, 61, copped to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud on Sept. 5, less than a month after prosecutors unveiled a grand jury indictment against him, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Full article, HERE.
There are more to go, and I for one, am glad to see the Navy continuing to go after these bastards and openly prosecuting them, not trying to hide it! This is the ONLY way this kind of crap gets stopped!
The truly sad part is the number of years this apparently went on, with mostly officers turning a blind eye/taking bribes that put sailors at risk, and literally cost the Navy millions of dollars…
People are people and money is tempting. That being said, the honest man resists that temptation when it leads to wrongdoing. Kudos to the Navy for cleaning up this mess. Now if only our federal government would follow suit…
You would think they would learn!
I was stationed in Germany when the very first Sergeant Major of the Army pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks from NCO clubs in Viet Nam. I don’t remember what he got convicted for, but there was a LOT of nasty stuff going on.
That issue hit home for me, because part of my job was to inspect the kitchens at NCO and Officer’s Clubs in the Stuttgart area. Fortunately, my NCOIC was utter death on accepting ANYTHING from the people running the clubs. (I did take a piece of fried chicken just out of the fryer from the mess sergeant at the Nellingen mess hall once. That guy made some BODACIOUS chicken!)
More than what it meant to me personally, it was a huge kick in the teeth to all the enlisted troops. The Sergeant Major is OUR guy, the ‘enlisted general.’
Hey Pat
When were you over there? I was there in 1986 through 1991, we went to “Snoopy’s” at SAAF and I worked as the range master at Nellingen Barracks from 1988 until 1990 when we got deployed to Saudi.
I hadn’t heard about this latest scandal, but the Fat Leonard situation went on for a long time. As you suggest, the key is to expose it, not to hide the corruption.
Dad remembered hearing about it in the early 1970s when he was in. He wasn’t directly afflicted, er, affected, but rumors traveled.
Thanks for posting this. Consequences guide actions but only when they are known to the players.
Maybe this is coming out because we have a SecDef who has the backs of those doing the honorable thing?
Tole- If only!
Pat- Yep, but they always ‘think’ they are smart enough to beat the system… dammit!
LL- Agreed VADM Harris pushed this as COMPACFLT, and got it out in the open, then continued it as PACOM.
ERJ- Yep!
WSF- That too!
It doesn’t help when the people under uniform transfer into the Defense Industry either as lobbyists or consultants. We see some of the same featherbedding in many of our more porkish projects (like the push, by an ex-Army general, to transition from 5.56 to some 6.5/6.8 Handwavium caliber because, oh, wait, he’s in cahoots with one of the potential manufacturers…)
Same with ex-military who become corporate shills while serving in politics. There’s a very famous ex-fighter pilot who threw all his accomplishments away after a greedy money-grabbing venture while as a seated congress-critter.
One almost thinks the system corrupts. But the system corrupts only those who are corruptible.
Hopefully the corruptible will be greatly reduced by this on-going scandal.
Hang a few, or execute them on the deck of a carrier, pour encourager les autres.
Beans- Yep, we fought that when I worked in R&D on the .gov side. And that would work too!
Hey Old NFO;
I am glad to see the Navy making some messy examples of corruption of certain members, it will do much to restore the faith of the others in justice and doing the “Right thing”. I remember reading the case of the corruption of the NCO clubs in Vietnam and the people that got caught and sent to Levenworth. They were willing to risk their pension and job for some bennies. It really bothered me, I expected better from our Military members. Now only if they go after the political side also.
NFO, I remember a RSM calling over to a mate on the range — “Alright, Chief!”
Both were WW2 vets. We cadets shouldered our Enfields accordingly.
Will there be hangings?
I think I’m honest enough, but I’ve had times after the fact where I’ve wondered if I’d adjusted my sense of what to do in order to get along.
I’ve long wanted to get into the defense industry. Since I don’t yet know that business, I don’t really yet know the honest way to conduct that business. I’m a bit disheartened that I can’t simply assume that I’m working for an honest firm, once I manage to get hired by developing the right skills. Better to be aware of possible problems.
All- Thanks for the comments.:-)
Posted from my iPhone.