Stephen A. Kromer, owner and manager of Reno, NV broadband company Uprise, admitted to diverting more than $7.8 million in state-supplied matching funds from a rural broadband construction project and agreed to $7,886,941 in restitution under a federal plea agreement filed October 27.
The agreement identifies the Nevada Department of Transportation as a victim. It also establishes what the guilty plea does—and does not—settle: Kromer admitted to money laundering through a specific cryptocurrency transaction, prosecutors agreed to seek dismissal of the remaining 15 federal counts at sentencing, and the deal does not bind state prosecutors or settle contractors’ civil claims.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2027, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Boulware II, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The money-laundering count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. The plea agreement contains no fixed prison term…