Provo • A former college associate dean from Utah Valley University has pleaded guilty to communications fraud one week after his wife was sentenced to county jail for stealing more than $380,000 from the university, prosecutors said.
Phil Clegg, 47, accepted a plea deal in exchange for a guilty plea to two felony counts and avoid serving up to five years in prison for each charge, The Daily Herald reported Tuesday.
Clegg was ordered to pay $64,000 in restitution and complete 120 hours of community service, prosecutors said.
University authorities said they agreed with the plea deal.
Clegg and his wife Jennifer Clegg, who was also a former university employee, used the money from the university to pay for travel expenses and a private theater business, authorities said.
Phil Clegg worked at the university for about 15 years and served as associate dean of students and director of Student Leadership and Involvement. He also previously attended the university and served a leadership role in student government, officials said.
"This is a high-ranking position of trust and authority, integral to the university's open-admissions mission," university officials said in a letter to Judge James Brady. "Clegg nonetheless abused his position to benefit personally."
The charges would be reduced to class A misdemeanors in two years if Clegg fully complies with the plea, prosecutors said.
Communications fraud involves defrauding another to obtain money and other things of value with a lie.
Last week, Jennifer Clegg was sentenced to four months in county jail, 60 days on a GPS monitor, 100 hours of community service, probation and ordered to pay restitution.
