The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has affirmed a $2.3 million financial penalty against two brothers for illegal pirate radio broadcasts in Queens, NY.
According to a Forfeiture Order issued by the Commission in mid-October, Cesar Ayora and his brother Luis Angel Ayora “engaged in the longstanding illicit operation of an unauthorized radio station known as Radio Impacto 2,” in violation of the provisions of the Communications Act, and have been ordered to pay $2,316,034
The Ayoras were originally recipients this past March of a Notice of Apparently Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) in connection with their years-long pirate radio operations, following extensive surveillance by field agents of the New York Office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. In that NAL, the Commission calculated a proposed forfeiture of over $21 million but reduced the amount to $2,316,034 based on statutory limits.
However, the Ayoras failed to file a response to the NAL, hence the issuance of the Forfeiture Order.
Read the complete text of the FCC’s Forfeiture Order.
Read the original Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL).
