University of Hawaii officials applauded the federal fraud prosecution of two mainland men charged in the botched Stevie Wonder concert, but it wasn’t clear whether any of the $200,000 that UH lost will be recovered.

One of the two men pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to a fraud charge and has cooperated with the FBI. Sean Barriero, 44, of Miami is represented by the federal public defender’s office because he can’t afford a lawyer.

The charge against him carries a prison term of up to 10 years, and Barriero was warned he could be ordered to pay UH $200,000 in restitution.

Federal prosecutors, however, said Barriero’s only asset was a black 2010 SUV Mercedes federal authorities seized which might not result in any money for the university.

FBI officials said the UH cash appears to be unrecoverable at this time.

Marc Hubbard, 44, of North Caro­lina, is the second man charged in the indictment. He turned himself in at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday and is awaiting extradition to Hono­lulu.

The federal prosecution is the latest development in the controversy that has escalated beyond the loss of the $200,000 and moved to the way UH dealt with the bungled concert.

The issue continued with questions about the leadership of UH President M.R.C. Greenwood and whether outsiders are exerting undue influence at the university.

UH officials thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI.

"We trust that this will help the university move past the failed concert episode and move foward with its many important missions," Greenwood said in a statement.

She said the university looks forward to the prosecution and hopes to get some restitution.

Barriero came to Hono­lulu recently as the federal grand jury met Wednesday and returned the indictment that was kept secret until Thursday.

Barriero, a British citizen, portrayed himself as more of a middleman between concert promoters and Hubbard, who supposedly had contacts with Wonder’s managers.

Barriero told U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang that the $200,000 UH wired went to an account with his South Florida business, Epic Talent.

"I failed to hold the funds in escrow," Barriero said.

Chang permitted Barriero to remain free by posting a $50,000 unsecured bond. Barriero’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 21.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Sean Cou­tain told news reporters later that Barriero cooperated "fully" in the FBI investigation and will be a witness against Hubbard.

"He would like the public to know that he expresses his condolences over the situation," Cou­tain said.

Barriero was contacted by Helen Williams, an entertainment consultant in Europe, who asked him to assist in promoting the Wonder concert with Bob Peyton, a Hono­lulu concert promoter, Cou­tain said.

UH was instructed to wire the money to Epic’s account as a deposit for the concert, he said.

After Barriero and Williams deducted their consultant fees, they sent the money to Hubbard, who was supposed to give it to Wonder, the defense lawyer said.

But when it was learned that Wonder didn’t know about the transaction, UH notified the FBI, which contacted Barriero, who began cooperating, Cou­tain said.

Barriero pleaded guilty to a charge of causing the transferring of the "stolen" $200,000 from Hono­lulu to Florida.

"The FBI appreciates Mr. Barriero’s acceptance of responsibility in court today, and we also look forward to his continued cooperation in this case," FBI spokes­man Tom Simon said.

Hubbard is charged with devising the fraudulent scheme that included falsely representing that he had connections to Wonder’s management and that the musician would be available for the concert.

If convicted, Hubbard faces up to 20 years in prison and could also be ordered to pay restitution.

He faces a detention hearing in Charlotte on Tuesday, when a federal magistrate will determine when and how he will be transported to Hawaii. The FBI said the extradition will take several weeks.

Hubbard was also arraigned last week in Spartanburg, S.C., on state securities fraud and forgery charges for allegedly soliciting $700,000 in 2008 from a victim to promote an Alicia Keyes concert.

Vida G. Bottom, special agent in charge of the FBI Hono­lulu office, told reporters Thursday morning that its investigation cleared UH officials of any criminal wrongdoing.

Bottom described the university as the "prime victim."

"In fact, the university officials we spoke to during this investigation were open, honest and available to us — without precondition — throughout our investigation," Bottom said.

UH also allowed the FBI to secretly record a telephone conversation with Barriero during the investigation.

A Hawaii investor had transferred $50,000 to Barriero in May to secure the concert, $27,500 of which was transferred to Hubbard, the indictment states.

The indictment further alleges that in July an authorized agent for Wonder reported that neither he nor his management had any knowledge of the concert. None of the $250,000 was transmitted to the singer or his management.

According to U.S. Attorney Florence Naka­kuni, the $200,000 UH sent as a down payment for the concert was divided in the following manner: $120,000 went to Hubbard; $11,250 was wired to Williams in Europe; and Barriero kept $68,750.

Federal authorities said Hubbard spent all of his share on personal and business expenses.

Bottom said the FBI investigation revealed there is no cash to recover at this point.

Peyton, the Hono­lulu promoter who initially approached UH officials about coordinating the concert to benefit UH athletics, told the Star-Advertiser in July that he had wired the concert deposit and $50,000 to Epic Talent.

The Star-Advertiser also reported in July that Epic did not have an office in the Miami building where it received mail.

The nine-page indictment revealed that a July 16 phone call between Barriero and a UH official was secretly recorded by the FBI with UH’s consent. The UH official is not identified in the indictment.

"During the phone call, Barriero assured the UH official that the UH’s $200,000 deposit had been sent to Stevie Wonder’s management and that Barriero had not taken his fee," according to the indictment.

The indictment said none of the funds UH wired went to any escrow business accounts, but all ended up in Barriero’s personal Bank of America account in Florida.

The concert saga began in June when university officials announced that the pop star had agreed to an Aug. 18 performance.

Ticket sales were well under way by July 10 when then-UH athletic director Jim Dono­van announced that there would be no concert because the performer and his representatives had not authorized the event. About 6,000 ticket holders had to be refunded.

UH officials said they had paid $200,000 to a Florida company that purported to be authorized to book the star. Wonder’s representatives later contacted UH officials to say they had not authorized the concert or received any payment.

The FOUL-UP led to a special state Senate panel to investigate the incident and its aftermath.

UH officials announced in July that Dono­van and Stan Sheriff Center arena manager Rich Sheriff were placed on indefinite paid administrative leave while an investigation proceeded.

Sheriff was reinstated, and Dono­van, whose athletic director’s contract was to expire in March, was reassigned to a new, vaguely defined marketing role in the Manoa chancellor’s office, a three-year deal that pays him more than $200,000 annually.

Documents released to the Star-Advertiser under the state’s open-records law showed that UH agreed to the deal in return for Dono­van agreeing not to sue the school.

The Senate panel has yet to release its findings.

A Board of Regents task group, made up of five regents and four accounting and business professionals, is conducting its own investigation. The group hired the accounting firm KMH LLP under a $50,000 contract to look at the accounting procedures and controls at the athletic department and UH system to see whether procedures were violated and to see whether changes need to be made to prevent a similar incident.