Robert Felner, who resigned his June 2008 appointment as University of Wisconsin-Parkside chancellor on the eve of taking the reins, pleaded guilty Friday in a federal court to nine criminal counts, including charges of defrauding two universities of $2.3 million.

Under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney, Felner, 59, of Prospect, Ky., appeared in a U.S. District Court in Kentucky and pleaded guilty Friday to all counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit money laundering, mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and six counts of federal income tax evasion.

In addition to admitting to all the charges, Felner agreed to serve 63 months in prison, pay $510,000 in restitution to the University of Louisville and $1.64 million to the University of Rhode Island, as well as forfeit to the federal government real estate he owned in Florida and Illinois, according to a report published online by the Louisville Courier-Journal. The report said the plea agreement also includes Felner forfeiting bank accounts of undisclosed value.

Felner resigned his Parkside appointment on the eve of taking the reins after revealing to UW officials that he was under federal investigation. He was never on Parkside’s payroll.

The plea agreement entered into Friday is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson III who will review the deal before deciding whether to accept it. Simpson also could impose additional fines of up to $2.25 million on Felner.

In several cases, Felner and alleged co-conspirator Thomas Schroeder, who still faces trial after pleading not guilty to related federal charges, performed services as contracted with public school districts around the country, but diverted funds paid for those services into their own bank account instead of it going to Rhode Island, where Felner was a professor and the director of the School of Education from 1996-2003.

While there, he established a division called the “National Center on Public Education and Social Policy,” also known as NCPE, which actually performed work for New York, Georgia and California school districts. But instead of going to Rhode Island by way of NCPE, payments were diverted to another entity created by Felner and incorporated in Illinois called the “National Center on Public Education and Prevention,” or NCPEp, whose bank accounts Felner and Schroeder solely controlled. However, NCPEp performed none of the work.

Felner admitted participating in a scheme from 2001 through 2008 to defraud Rhode Island, Louisville and the Rock Island County Counsel on Addiction in Illinois, known as RICCA. He admitted embezzling and conspiring to launder approximately $1.65 million from Rhode Island; $510,000 from Louisville; and $88,750 from RICCA.

According to a statement issued Friday by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, Felner also admitted his part as a co-conspirator in using NCPEp to embezzle funds received from Louisville under a Sept. 1, 2005, federal earmark grant. Louisville issued $450,000 to NCPEp after Felner fraudulently alleged NCPEp performed work pursuant to the grant. However, NCPEp did not perform the work, and the payments were deposited into three bank accounts controlled by Felner and Schroeder.

In May 2008 — after being selected to head UW-Parkside and just weeks before he was set to take the reins — Felner, who at the time was dean of Louisville’s College of Education, attempted defrauding the university of an additional $180,000 in payments to NCPEp in May of 2008 by fraudulently claiming NCPEp completed additional work for the school. This time, Louisville didn’t bite.

From 2001 through 2008, Felner diverted $2.5 million into three bank accounts controlled by him and Schroeder for their personal benefit, and evading federal income taxes from 2002 through 2007.

Subject to Judge Simpson approving the plea agreement, Felner still faces maximum potential penalties of 75 years in prison, a $2.75 million fine and up to three years supervision after release. Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 16 before Simpson.