Former USC linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain pleaded guilty Monday to orchestrating a scheme that fraudulently sought more than $1 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits.
McClain, 24, most recently of Coto de Caza, a gated community in Orange County, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to one count of felony mail fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A sentencing date was scheduled for Sept. 16, at which time McClain will face up to 20 years in federal prison.
McClain, who played at USC from 2018-20 and then transferred to Jackson State, was charged three years ago with multiple counts of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
McClain, who was playing for USC during the scheme in 2020, organized and assisted a group of other players in filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits, including under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program established by Congress in response to the pandemic’s economic fallout, papers filed in L.A. federal court show.
“Mr. McClain squandered his gifts and opportunities only to defraud taxpayers whose hard-earned money was appropriated for deserving victims during the COVID era,” said Krysti Hawkins, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to identify those who leveraged the COVID pandemic to commit fraud and hold them accountable.”
The indictment states that the claims contained bogus information about the football players’ supposed prior employment, pandemic-related job loss, and job-seeking efforts in California.
False statements in applications filed with the state’s unemployment insurance benefits program led the California Employment Development Department to authorize Bank of America to mail debit cards to the football players.
Those debit cards were loaded with hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits, which the recipients used to make cash withdrawals at automated teller machines and to fund personal expenses, prosecutors said.
In some cases, McClain sought and obtained a cut for helping others file fraudulent applications, according to the DOJ.
McClain and others also filed applications in their own names, in the names of other friends and associates, and in the names of identity theft victims, court papers say.
The DOJ believes McClain caused at least three dozen fraudulent applications to be filed with EDD during the summer of 2020. According to the indictment, those fraudulent applications sought more than $1 million in benefits and led the EDD to pay out at least $227,736.
“When the university learned of this matter in September 2020, we notified law enforcement and have been fully cooperating with authorities,” USC said when McClain was charged in 2021. “We are unable to provide additional information because this is a pending criminal matter.”