Craftsman 14.5/42 Rider leaking fuel-won't turn over

Hello,
New to the forum so I am sure that I will find alot of answers here.
I have a craftsman rider 14.5 Briggs w/ 42" cut. I mowed earlier today and everything was fine. Put mower up & then a few hours later went to shut building & noticed fuel on floor & tank empty.
Moved outside put a little fuel in and it turns a little & then locks up. I can spin slowly by hand and release pressure on piston and hit switch & it spins over & locks up again.
Haven't looked at it yet but, fuel is leaking out of carb & did notice some fuel in the center of main pulley below engine.
Don't know yet but this may not be good.
Thanks in advance for all advice.

 

The floats stuck in the carberator.
Pull it off diassemble, and clean it in carb clean and install all new seals.
Going to need to change the oil and remove the spark plug and pull it over a few times to clean it out.
Running nonethanol fuel would go a long way to prevent this from happening again.

 

The ethanol fuel has probably left a deposit on the seat or ruined the needle. Make sure to check oil and or change oil if gas has gotten into oil. Pull out spark plug and turn over in short cranks but make sure you move spark plug boot so it doesn't ignite gas coming out of spark plug hole. As Joe says check the float also, take out of carburetor and shake it if it sloshes it has fuel in it and it is JUNK,,get a new float. Make sure to clean or replace needle and seat,,if seat is rubber, replace it, if it is brass polish it clean, if it is a Nikki carb and it is plastic just clean seat really well and replace needle. Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice. I will try this sometime this weekend or upcoming week. I will keep you updated on issue.
Thanks