Former University of Southern California football player Abdul-Malik McClain has agreed to a plea deal for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits from the California Employment Development Department between July 2020 and September 2020.
McClain plans to plead guilty to one felony count of mail fraud, according to a copy of the plea agreement obtained by The Times.
McClain, who played at USC from 2018-2020, was arrested in December 2021 and charged with 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of identity theft for allegedly filing fraudulent claims on behalf of USC football players under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which was established to provide assistance to people who are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
At the time, McClain pleaded not guilty and was released on $20,000 bail. However, one month before his trial, McClain agreed to a plea deal, with a hearing scheduled for June 17. As part of the plea deal, McClain must pay restitution and faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence. The statutory maximum sentence for felony mail fraud is 20 years, but federal sentencing guidelines suggest a prison sentence of 70 to 87 months.
The original indictment listed 36 fraudulent claims for PUA benefits that McClain submitted or helped submit in the names of teammates, friends and others whose identities were stolen as part of the scheme. As part of his plea agreement, McClain admitted to his role as the “leader or organizer” of the scheme. The scheme involved knowingly submitting PUA claims containing false employment information, using the claimants' names and Social Security numbers, with the intent to fraudulently obtain debit cards from Bank of America.
Some of these debit cards were sent to addresses to which McClain had direct access. In other cases, McClain received payments directly from people who had received debit cards from the EDD.
As part of the scheme, McClain and his co-conspirators, none of whom were identified in the original indictment or plea agreement, sought $1,056,092 in benefits from the EDD but ultimately received approximately $283,063.
McClain left USC in November 2020 after his brother, Munir, was suspended indefinitely from the USC football team in September 2020 amid complaints that USC football players were being approached about schemes to apply for EDD benefits. Abdul-Malik McClain was not suspended.
Muneer and Abdul-Malik McClain acknowledged to The Times in October 2020 that they had benefited from the PUA program. That fall, several University of Southern California football players were approached about the scheme in their on-campus dorms. Some received subpoenas to appear before a grand jury.
In several interviews with The Times at the time, the McClains remained adamant that neither brother had done anything wrong.
