Corey Alston, the man who partnered with the Department of Education in a deal to offer free tablets to qualifying households under a now-shuttered federal initiative, was on Wednesday sentenced to 41 months in prison for Medicare fraud. 

Following his time spent incarcerated, Mr. Alston, who pleaded guilty to running a COVID-19 testing scam that bilked Medicare out of over $2.6 million in fraudulent claims, will be subject to a further three years of supervised release. 

Middle District of Florida judge Gregory Presnell also sentenced Mr. Alston's co-defendent Latrecia Wilson to 5 years of probation, with 100 hours of community service required for each of the five years of probation. Together with Mr. Alston, the two must pay restitution to Medicare in the amount of $2,601,888.24 starting with a monthly sum of $200 for Ms. Wilson and $150 for Mr. Alston when he is released from prison. 

In the Virgin Islands, Mr. Alston's long criminal history came to light after VIDE publicly thanked former senator Donna Frett-Gregory for making the introduction. His company, Heritage Wireless, would have provided free internet and tablet computers to students on the Free and Reduced Breakfast & Lunch programs. The initiative was part of the Affordable Connectivity Program, which was slated by Congress to expire even before the VIDE effort was announced. 

Shortly after the announcement, the Consortium discovered that Corey Alston, who also went by the first name Bobbi, had been linked to several incidents of corruption in public office and fraud in his private businesses. 

Wednesday's sentencing is just the latest scenario in which Mr. Alston finds himself in conflict with the law.