Latest Graham Platner Story Veers Into 'Me Too' Territory
Reports: More CBS News Reporters Could Leave Following Scott Pelley's Termination
Watch These Two Guests on CNN Absolutely Cook Dems Over Their Support for...
Someone Should Check on John Cornyn After His Break With Trump
Graham Platner Hates Corporations, but He Sure Loves Their Money
The Press Support for Pelley Becomes More Strained; MMA at the WH Is...
Mike Pence Hits the Book Tour Trail and Takes Aim at the 'Populist...
AI Will Reshape the Economy—And That’s Exactly the Point
Time to Clean Up California's Election Laws — and Others
Former USAID Employee Pleads Guilty to $176K COVID Relief Fraud Scheme
SpaceXAI and Gopuff Join Forces to Create AI-Powered Shopping Tool
Illegal Alien Indicted for Allegedly Stealing Identity to Obtain $44K in Unemployment and...
The Left Defended Kaitlan Collins, but They're Silent on Pelosi Telling a Reporter...
Candace Owens Touts Russia's 'Christian Heritage' — Here's What She Left Out
Tipsheet

Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Pandemic Broadband Program of $741,000

Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Pandemic Broadband Program of $741,000
AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to allegedly stealing over $741,000 from the federal government. 

Krandon Wenger, 25, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty earlier this week before United States District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to two counts of wire fraud, arising from a pandemic program fraud scheme in which he defrauded the government of more than $741,000.

Advertisement

The defendant was charged by information last month; with this plea, he has waived prosecution by indictment.

As detailed in court filings and statements, the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”) was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and provided financial support to eligible, low-income households, so those households could continue to receive broadband services during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The ACP authorized a monthly reimbursement of $30 per household, or $75 for households on tribal lands, to be paid to a household’s broadband access provider.

In March of 2022, the defendant, who owned and controlled a company called K20 Wireless, LLC (“K20 Wireless”), submitted an application for K20 Wireless to become an ACP broadband provider. After K20 Wireless’s application was approved in April 2022, the company began to enroll subscribers and submit monthly certifications for ACP reimbursements. 

Most of K20 Wireless’s reimbursement requests were for subscribers who purportedly lived on tribal lands and, therefore, received the higher reimbursements of $75 per month. However, these tribal ACP claims were false. 

In reality, the defendant had caused employees and agents of K20 Wireless to change the residential addresses of K20 Wireless ACP subscribers from non-tribal lands to tribal lands, before submitting the claims. Because K20 Wireless was entitled to receive only $30 per month for these subscriber households, not $75, the defendant’s fraud scheme caused the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to overpay K20 Wireless by approximately $741,726.

Advertisement

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28 and faces a maximum possible term of 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Francis A. Weber.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement