The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has formally imposed a fine of $404,166 against a New York City resident who allegedly operated a radio transmitter on radio frequencies assigned to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
The Forfeiture Order issued by the Commission in early October follows a Notice of Apparent Liability issued earlier this year against Jay Peralta. According to that Notice, Peralta used the designated frequencies in 2016 to transmit at least nine separate threatening messages to NYPD officers, including false bomb threats and false officer-in-destress calls.
Peralta was subsequently arrested in September 2016 and admitted to making the calls on NYPD frequencies. He was charged on a range of offenses, including reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation of an officer and false reporting of an incident.
The Commission issued the Forfeiture Order after Peralta failed to respond as required to the Notice of Apparent Liability. Should he fail to pay the fine within 30 days, the matter will be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department for further action.
Read the text of the FCC’s Forfeiture Order.
