Troubled former USC football star is back on the move again

Jackson State Tigers linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain has entered the transfer portal according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. This will be his second time going through the transfer portal, originally signing his letter of intent with the USC Trojans.

McClain appeared in one game this season, recording three tackles on Sept. 18 against Louisiana-Monroe.

Coming out of high school, McClain was classified as an edge prospect, ranking at No. 10 at the position. The now linebacker was originally a member of the 2018 class and was a top 25 prospect out of the state of California.

Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, UCLA were interested in McClain as well.

Abdul-Malik McClain arrested on Monday

McClain has been in the headlines recently, getting arrested Monday on federal charges, the LA Times reported. McClain allegedly orchestrated a group of college football players in a scheme to claim fraudulent COVID-related unemployment benefits.

The charges against McClain include 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He has pleaded not guilty.

Approximately 36 fraudulent claims were made for benefits as a part of the scheme, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The applications sought more than $900,000, but ultimately claimed a total of $228,000.

USC football was not specifically mentioned as part of the federal indictment charges, but EDD benefit cards were sent to addresses near the Trojans campus. McClain was enrolled at the university during the time period the scheme is said to have taken place, but has since transferred to Jackson State.

“While a member of his university’s football team, McClain organized and assisted a group of other football players in filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits, including under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program established by Congress in response to the pandemic’s economic fallout,” the indictment says. “The indictment … contained false information about the football players’ supposed prior employment, pandemic-related job loss, and job-seeking efforts in California.”

McClain and others filed applications in their own names, the names of friends and the names of identity theft victims, the indictment says. In some cases, the former USC player took a cut of the other players’ benefits.