Jeffrey Breslau (left)
Jeff Breslau pleaded guilty to the Criminal Conflict of Interest and was sentenced to 6 months in Federal Prison. He served his full sentence and recently was released from prison. Mr. Breslau was the City of Johns Creek Communications Director until September 2018. He quickly resigned when Dept of Justice charged him for moonlighting as a ghostwriter for "Fat Leonard", whilst also being the Navy spokesperson.
The clear conflict of interest did not resonate with Jeff Breslau and he saw no wrongdoing in helping a foreign defense contractor bilk American taxpayers $35 million dollars.
The corruption case was called "Fat Leonard". The scandal involved Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based maritime tycoon of Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Many USA military personnel were effectively put at risk for possible extortion as they were brought to ports they should not have visited & charged for services never rendered. All for the sake of billables to enrich "Fat Leonard". Upper-brass Navy was wined, dined with prostitutes. Many admitted to accepting things of value from Francis in exchange for helping the contractor win and maintain contracts and overbill the Navy ~$35 million dollars.
"Fat Leonard" Foreign Federal Contractor
Jeff Breslau moonlighted with public relations consulting services from May 2012 until Fat Leonard's arrest in September 2013. Breslau sent at least 135 emails advising Francis how to respond to “allegations of malfeasance”, issues and controversies, according to the DOJ. In addition, he provided at least 14 sets of “talking points” before Fat Leonard met with senior Navy officials. Jeff Breslau also “ghostwrote” emails from Francis to Navy officials, according to the plea agreement.
After Breslau left the Military, he joined the City of Johns Creek as its new Communication Director.
His time spent in Johns Creek was very busy. He pushed the Mayor's agenda with full force and with new energy. Presenting the urbanization and frequent rezonings of high density and additional traffic as a positive change for the community and residents.
Breslau oversaw the significant uptick on the City's social media presence as well. This came with heavy-handed culling of the Facebook page being continually deleted of comments and posts by residents. Many were harmless and inquisitive in nature. A Johns Creek Post FOIA exposed a staggering 137 pages of deleted Facebook comments from within an 18 month period. Many are asking for clarification for City events such as parking, location or suggestions for better services. Others were critical of City leadership and decisions such as 37 Main and the billboard settlement. Breslau was in charge of social media and anything negative was deleted, rather than communicating and solving issues for the residents.
It is unknown if his work activities and behavior were looked into while employed in the City of Johns Creek. Did he moonlight or ghostwrite for developers or contractors, etc? It is a good question worth asking...
Navy Times reported the case closely. Although Breslau pleaded guilty, he felt “It’s a much different matter,” said his attorney William Cowden. In court, the attorneys said their client’s culpability was a matter of him failing to disclose outside employment and isn’t similar to the public corruption pleas dogging other Fat Leonard defendants.
Above all, yes, it is a much different matter. Had he disclosed to the Navy that he was working on the side for a Foreign Federal Contractor, there is a high probability he would have been fired. Finally, without Breslau's help, in all likelihood, Fat Leonard's illegitimate overpriced contracts would have been canceled sooner.
Breslau was paid about $65,000 for providing insider advice, according to investigators. He never disclosed his moonlighting gig to the Navy. Firstly, the judge ordered Breslau to serve 6 months in Federal Prison. Secondly, he is to reimburse the Navy $65K. Thirdly, he must also pay a $20,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service.
In conclusion, now that Jeff Breslau is released from prison, he is back to work. According to his Linkedin profile, he started Hōkeo Consulting. Hōkeo is a Hawaiian: information collection. He certainly has a career worth of information from working for the Federal and Local Governments from 1988-2018.
SOURCES: The US Dept of Justice (DOJ) & Navy Times
?? WE WANT TO THANK ALL THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO KEEPING OUR COUNTRY SAFE. ??
"Breslau oversaw the significant uptick on the City’s social media presence as well. This came with heavy-handed culling of the Facebook page being continually deleted of comments and posts by residents. Many were harmless and inquisitive in nature. A Johns Creek Post FOIA exposed a staggering 137 pages of deleted Facebook comments from within an 18 month period. Many are asking for clarification for City events such as parking, location or suggestions for better services. Others were critical of City leadership and decisions such as 37 Main and the billboard settlement. Breslau was in charge of social media and anything negative was deleted, rather than communicating and solving issues for the residents."
--- The staggering 137 pages exposed still does NOT include many of the DELETED comments/posts. Were they INTENTIONALLY left out?
https://www.johnscreekpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/City-of-Johns-Creek-Deleted-Facebook-Comments.pdf
Is there a way screenshots of those DELETED COMMENTS can be uploaded here anonymously?
Thanks!
Yes. Use this form to upload and put filler text in the other fields.
https://www.johnscreekpost.com/guest-post-submission-form/