Associate of Slatkin Will Plead Guilty

An associate of Earthlink Inc. co-founder Reed Slatkin agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into a $593-million fraud scheme, prosecutors said.

Richard McMullin, 38, will admit to making false statements to the FBI and the bankruptcy trustee for the Slatkin estate.

Slatkin, 54, pleaded guilty last year to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that solicited $593 million from almost 800 investors. He could face up to 105 years in prison and fines of $3.75 million at his sentencing in June.

McMullin, who received almost $2 million in salary when he worked for Slatkin from 1986 to 1999, could face up to 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. He also agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to Slatkin’s investors, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.