Florida CEO gets 5 years in prison, $128M fine in 'Obama phone' scam

The owner of a Florida telecommunications firm was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing from the federal program once unoffcially dubbed "Obama phone" that provides discounted phone services to low-income customers.

Q Link Wireless LLC and its 51-year-old CEO Issa Asad both pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to steal government money from the Lifeline program, the Department of Justice announced. The program, begun in 1985 and expanded under Obama...