The former chancellor of City College of San Francisco has pleaded guilty to felony charges of misusing public funds.

As part of a plea deal, Philip Day admitted last week to diverting nearly $100,000 in college funds to campaign for community college bond ballot measures. It is illegal to use public money for political purposes.

Day, who served as chancellor from 1998 to 2008, pleaded guilty to three felony counts and agreed to pay $30,000 in fines. He will also pay restitution to the college in an amount to be determined by the court.

Day and two other college officials were targeted for investigation by then-District Attorney Kamala Harris after a Chronicle story detailed financial irregularities in a 2005 bond campaign.

Stephen Herman, the college's former chief administrative services officer, pleaded guilty to two felony charges for helping Day misuse about $80,000 in college funds. He will pay $20,000 in fines as well as court-ordered restitution.

Charges are still pending against a third former official, James Blomquist.

Neither Day nor Herman will serve jail time. The felonies will be reduced to misdemeanors once they pay the fines and restitution, said Cris Arguedas, an attorney for Day.

A sentencing hearing for both men is set for Nov. 1. A judge will likely determine then how much restitution the officials owe, a district attorney spokeswoman said.

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Day and Herman were initially charged in 2009 with eight and seven felonies respectively for misusing public funds.

Arguedas said the reduced charges reflect the fact that Day and Herman had acted in the best interests of the college, not for personal benefit.

"No money was used for the benefit of Phil Day or Stephen Herman," she said. "It was all used for the benefit of City College."

The first financial abuse occurred in 2001, records show, during the college's first bond campaign under Day's leadership. Day told Herman to have PepsiCo, which had a contract to sell soft drinks on campus, pay a $50,000 "signing bonus" not to the college, but to the bond campaign. Voters approved the $195 million bond.

In 2005, the college again went to voters with an ambitious $246.3 million bond to expand campus facilities. Again, Day diverted a payment, this time $20,000 from a campus coffee shop, Bean Scene, to fund the successful campaign.

The following year, Day and Herman funneled a $28,000 PepsiCo payment to the college's foundation and used the money for a political donation to a statewide education bond.

The guilty pleas mark the final chapter in a lengthy criminal case that has shadowed the college since the district attorney began investigating more than four years ago.

In addition to the problematic Bean Scene transaction, The Chronicle reported in its story about the 2005 bond campaign that Blomquist, the district's associate vice chancellor, had directed the owner of a motorcycle school renting a campus parking lot to make a $10,000 rent payment to the campaign rather than directly to City College.

Blomquist, who faces one felony count for the incident, has not entered a plea. He is to appear in court for a hearing on Oct. 11.

City College trustee John Rizzo said he's glad the case is coming to a close.

"It's been hanging over the college during one of our worst periods because of the state budget cuts," he said. "We've been dealing with the aftermath of what these guys left behind. They left behind a mess, and we're still trying to recover from it."