October 27, 2026 - 2:53 pm

The owner of a former internet service provider in Reno pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling more than $7.8 million from a federal grant project.

Stephen A. Kromer, who owned Uprise, LLC, a former internet service provider, pleaded guilty to one count of federal money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced March 9, according to a Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2022 awarded Uprise a $27 million federal grant to construct a high-speed broadband network in Lovelock, about 100 miles 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 nation.

As a condition to receiving the federal grant, Uprise agreed to contribute approximately $9 million toward the cost of the Lovelock project.…