Four US Navy officers had their felony convictions in a sprawling bribery case removed on Wednesday due to prosecutorial misconduct.
US District Judge Janis Sammartino called the misconduct “outrageous” and agreed to allow the four men to plead guilty to a misdemeanour and pay a $100 fine each.
The officers — former Capts. David Newland, James Dolan and David Lausman and former Cmdr. Mario Herrera — were convicted in one of the worst bribery cases in recent history for the Navy that centred around a defence contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard.
Defence attorneys for the officers had spent more than a year challenging the convictions and accusing the prosecution of misconduct. It was the latest misstep in the case.
A year ago, Leonard Francis, the defence contractor, fled from house arrest in San Diego. He was later captured in Venezuela, where he remains.
More than two dozen Navy officials, defence contractors and others have been convicted on various fraud and corruption charges in the case, which ran over years.
