The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a monetary forfeitures of $15,000 each against two men who, despite repeated warnings, reportedly operated pirate radio stations in two separate areas of northern New Jersey.
According to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture issued in September 2015, Alejandro Ramirez and his wife Hilda have a long history of operating illegal radio stations in Paterson, having received two separate Notices of Unlicensed Operation in 2013 and 2014. In the latest incidents in May and August, 2015, agents from the New York office of the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau detected unlicensed radio signals emanating from properties own or occupied by either Ramirez or his wife, resulting in two additional Notices of Unlicensed Operations. However, the Commission received no responses to either Notice, prompting the Notice of Apparent Liability.
In a separate matter, Jean Yves Tullias has been linked with several complaints of unlicensed radio operation and radio interference in Irvington and Orange New Jersey, dating back to 2012. In the latest incident in August 2015, agents from the New York office used mobile direction-finding techniques to identify the source of interfering radio transmissions in Irvington. It linked Tullias with the interference through an Internet search that revealed a radio station, Friendship RTV, operated by Tullias at the same location. The Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Unlicensed Operation against Tullias, but received no response. Hence, the Notice of Apparent Liability.
The Communications Act of 1934 makes it unlawful to operating radio broadcasting equipment outside of prescribed limits without a license from the FCC, and authorizes the Commission to seize and forfeit any equipment used for such purposes.
Read the Commission’s Notice of Apparent Liability in connection with Tullias.
Read the Commission’s Notice of Apparent Liability in connection with Ramirez.
