The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Forfeiture Order in connection with its investigation of a Bronx, NY, pirate radio station operator.
Issued in early August, the Forfeiture Order confirms the agency’s proposed fine of $2.3 million against Johnny Peralta, the alleged operator of an unauthorized radio station on 105.7 MHz, known as “La Mia Radio.” Peralta must pay the Forfeiture Penalty by early September or face further prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The station, which the FCC says has operated since at least 2018, was first identified by agents from the New York Field Office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau in September of that year by tracing the source of the radio transmissions to an FM transmitter antenna located at an apartment building in the Bronx. After a warning was posted on the building’s front door, the transmitter antenna was, according to the Commission, temporarily moved to another location in the Bronx but later relocated to the original site, where it continued to operate through at least mid-2023.
The Commission finally issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) against Peralta in November 2023, proposing a financial penalty of $2,316.034 for his willful violations of FCC regulations. However, since then, Peralta has failed to file a response to the NAL, prompting the FCC’s decision to issue the Forfeiture Order affirming the fine.
The text of the FCC’s Forfeiture Order against Peralta is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-82A1.pdf.
