Ex-USC Player Admits To $1M COVID Unemployment Scheme: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — Former USC linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain pleaded guilty on Monday to orchestrating a scheme of fraudulently seeking over $1 million in pandemic-era unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

McClain, 24, pleaded guilty in federal court in Downtown Los Angeles to one felony mail-fraud count. He's set to be sentenced Sept. 16, prosecutors said.

McClain, who played at USC between 2018 and 2020 before transferring to Jackson State, organized and assisted a group of other football players in filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits, including through programs established as part of COVID-19 relief. He did so while he was at USC, according to prosecutors.

The unemployment claims included false information about the players' prior employment, job losses and job-seeking efforts, prosecutors said.

The claims resulted in the state authorizing the issuance of debit cards to the players, which were loaded with hundreds or thousands of dollars in benefits. The recipients were able to withdraw the cash from ATMs, prosecutors said.

In some cases, McClain got a cut of the false beneficiaries' proceeds, prosecutors said.

McClain and others filed applications in their own names, in the names of friends and associates and in the names of identity-theft victims, prosecutors said.

The scheme resulted in at least three dozen fraudulent unemployment applications to be filed in 2020, where applicants sought at least $1 million in benefits and resulted in the state paying out at least $227,736, according to prosecutors.