A Nevada ISP owner has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $7.8 million from a federally funded high-speed Internet construction project.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada said the money was embezzled from “The Lovelock Project,” an Internet buildout initiative near Lovelock, Nevada.

Stephen A. Kromer, who owned Uprise LLC, pleaded guilty to laundering the money into his personal bank account.

The former ISP was located in Reno, Nevada, and had been awarded a $27m federal grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) back in 2022.

Uprise had been tasked with constructing a high-speed broadband network in rural Lovelock, Nevada, which is located about 100 miles (160.9km) northeast of Reno. The grant was funded by the ReConnect Program, a federal program that promoted the construction of high-speed internet networks in under-utilized rural areas across the United States.

As part of the deal that resulted in the federal grant award, Uprise agreed to contribute approximately $9m toward the cost of the Lovelock project. Uprise obtained this money from the State of Nevada and deposited it into a separate financial account designated solely for the Lovelock Project and overseen by the USDA.

However, the US Attorney's Office notes that between May 2024 and November 2024, Kromer embezzled more than $7.8m from the ReConnect Program by "transferring the money from the designated account to his personal bank account and falsely accounting for the transfers as expenditures for the Lovelock project."

It was alleged that he then laundered the embezzled money by subsequently moving the embezzled proceeds from his personal bank account into accounts he held at various cryptocurrency exchanges where the money was converted into cryptocurrency.

Kromer pleaded guilty to one count of federal money laundering and agreed to pay the figure back, with sentencing scheduled for March 9, 2027, before United States District Judge Richard F. Boulware II. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

It's alleged that Kromer and Uprise stopped paying contractors during the Lovelock Project, reported News 4 Reno.

“Stealing public funds intended to connect rural communities is a direct assault on the taxpayers of Nevada,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “When individuals treat federal grants as personal piggy banks and hide stolen millions in cryptocurrency, they undermine public trust and rob citizens of critical infrastructure."