Law360 (January 3, 2024, 4:58 PM EST) -- Any leniency that Leonard Francis might have expected to get for his cooperation as a star witness in a massive bribery scandal that rocked the U.S. Navy likely flew out the window when he fled the U.S., experts said on the eve of his first court appearance since being apprehended.

Francis, a 59-year-old Malaysian defense contractor known as "Fat Leonard," is slated to appear Thursday in a California federal courtroom for a long-awaited status hearing more than a year after he cut off an ankle monitor and escaped house arrest in an upscale neighborhood in San Diego in early September 2022.

Francis was later caught in Venezuela, which recently agreed to send him back to the U.S. as part of a prisoner swap. Francis' return intensifies the spotlight on the "Fat Leonard" case, which has been marred by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.