The owner of a Florida-based telecommunications company has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme against the government-funded “Obama phone” program—officially known as Lifeline—that provides subsidized phone services to low-income Americans.

The Department of Justice confirmed that Q Link Wireless LLC and its CEO, 51-year-old Issa Asad, pled guilty last year to conspiring to commit wire fraud and stealing federal funds from the Lifeline program.

Lifeline, which originated in 1985 and was heavily expanded under former President Barack Obama, became notorious during the 2012 election cycle after a viral video showed a Cleveland woman boasting about receiving “Obama phones.” Although some providers embraced the nickname, the government bristled at the association.

As part of his sentence, Asad and his company must pay over $128 million in combined financial penalties and restitution.

According to the DOJ, Asad and Q Link submitted false information about Lifeline customers and filed multiple fraudulent claims for federal reimbursement between 2012 and 2021. They admitted to retaining funds they were not entitled to and lying to the FCC about compliance with program rules.

In addition to the prison term, Asad and Q Link agreed to pay approximately $110 million in restitution to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Asad personally paid a $17.5 million criminal fine, one of the largest in FCC history, for profits derived from the scheme.

The fraud extended beyond Lifeline. Asad also pled guilty to laundering funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was designed to help small businesses survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. He used the stolen taxpayer dollars to finance personal luxuries, including home construction, property taxes, jewelry, university donations, a Land Rover payment, and charges on his American Express card.

Asad was ordered to pay the Small Business Administration $1.7 million in restitution for the PPP-related crimes.

This isn’t Asad’s first run-in with the law. According to the Miami Herald, he was charged with murder in 2014 after running over a groundskeeper during a dispute over a $65 landscaping bill at his business. He ultimately pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor culpable negligence and received one year of probation along with a $225 fine.

Federal officials expressed outrage over the scale of the scheme.

“Issa Asad and his company, Q Link Wireless, deliberately scammed two vital government programs aimed at supporting people and companies in economic distress, wrongfully diverting hundreds of millions of dollars for their personal benefit and gain,” said U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’ Byrne for the Southern District of Florida.

“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions. Mr. Asad prioritized his own greed, stealing $100 million from taxpayers,” added Kareem Carter, Executive Special Agent in Charge at the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Field Office.

FCC Inspector General Fara Damelin said the sentencing “sends an important message that egregious criminal misconduct against FCC programs will not go unanswered.”

Asad’s conviction marks one of the largest financial penalties ever levied by the FCC, and investigators vowed to continue cracking down on fraudsters who abuse programs intended to help America’s most vulnerable populations.