A federal grant intended to expand high-speed internet access in rural Nevada became the source of more than $7.8 million in misappropriated funds, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada announced Tuesday that Stephen A. Kromer pleaded guilty to one count of federal money laundering. Kromer owned Uprise LLC, a Reno-based internet service provider that received a $27 million federal grant for a broadband construction project near Lovelock in 2022.
The project, known as the Lovelock Project, was funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program, which supports high-speed internet construction in rural areas across the country…