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.
The defendant was charged by information last month; with this plea, he has waived prosecution by indictment.
Eastern District of Pennsylvania | Lancaster County Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Pandemic Broadband Assistance Program of More Than $741,000 | United States Department of Justice https://t.co/wjGKtVRu20
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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.
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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.
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