I don't lie. All I can speculate is that maybe their "very front of the line" included multiple positions as "front".
That's ok, sometime people hear what they want to hear. You misheard them. Josh actually said:
Since he's a paying customer and also a miner developer, we've shipped him the first Little Single since his order one of the first ones in the queue from last year.
"one of the first" That means near the front, but not the actual first. You are getting a device sooner than your order number in compensation for working on the miner. It's ok to be compensated for your work. You don't need to feel bad and lie about it.