Former USC Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn agrees to plead guilty to federal bribery charge
Former University of Southern California Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn has agreed to plead guilty to a federal bribery charge she faces in a political corruption case brought against her in October of last year.
The case, which ties to suspended Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, alleges that during her time as dean, Flynn conspired with Ridley-Thomas while he was a member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors from 2017 to 2018, something prosecutors say resulted in the university receiving lucrative county contracts, which were expected to generate about $9 million a year.
According to the 20-count indictment, Flynn, 83, agreed to provide Ridley-Thomas' son, Sebastian, with graduate school admission, a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship at the university. She also allegedly arranged to funnel a $100,000 donation from Ridley-Thomas' campaign funds through the university to a nonprofit to be operated by his son, former Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.
Prosecutors allege that as part of the bribery scheme, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Flynn took steps "to disguise, conceal, and cover up the bribes, kickbacks, and other benefits."
While she previously pleaded not guilty to the charge in Los Angeles federal court, Flynn is expected to plead guilty on Monday, where she'll be ordered to pay a fine of $100,000, in exchange for prosecutors recommending that she serve an anticipated 10-year prison term through home confinement.
Ridley-Thomas, who has thus far denied any wrongdoing in the matter, is expected to go on trial in the case beginning Nov. 15. He has been charged with one count each of conspiracy and bribery, two counts of honest services mail fraud and 15 counts of honest services wire fraud.
Flynn and Ridley-Thomas were both indicted on federal charges in October, leading to Ridley-Thomas' suspension from the LA City Council.
The full plea agreement can be found here.
Flynn was a tenured member of the USC staff beginning in 1997, where she acted as both a faculty member and dean of the social work school, until 2018, when the school learned of the $100,000 payment mentioned in the indictment.