Some 18 months after being handed a Notice of Apparent Liability of Forfeiture and essentially ignoring the proposed financial penalty courtesy of the FCC, a Waterbury, Conn. man found to be a pirate radio operator has received a Forfeiture Order enforcing a $40,000 fine for his actions.
In the Constitution State, Efrain Gonzalez in early January 2025 was handed a $40,000 fine for operating “La Poderosa” on 89. 1 MHz. The facility was found in March 2024 to be illegally simulcasting Uno Radio Group’s WUNO-AM “NotiUno 630,” a Spanish-language News/Talk station serving Puerto Rico. Enforcement Bureau agents spoke with Gonzalez, who confirmed the activity but did not cease it. Furthermore, Gonzalez was found to be promoting his unauthorized simulcast of “NotiUno” on Facebook.
The proposed fine didn’t pass muster with then-Commissioner Nate Simington, the Canada-born conservative Republican. He said no to the NALF on the basis of whether the FCC has the power to levy fines and determine the financial penalty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s SEC v. Jarkesy case.
That legal fight diluted the power of federal agencies to penalize individuals with a forfeiture … until the Supreme Court spoke up in FCC, et al v AT&T Inc. — argued on April 21, with a decision handed down on June 4 from Chief Justice John Roberts that upheld the ability of a federal agency to enforce a forfeiture for abuses of its rules. The lone dissenter: Clarence Thomas.
With legal clarity now given to the Commission, it moved forward with forcing Gonzalez to pay up.
Next up: What to do about infamous North Miami, Fla., broadcast buccaneer Polynice Fabrice, who was ordered to pay $2.4 million for his repeated use of 90.1 MHz for “Radio Touche Douce,” a Haitian Creole service that at various times over the last several years could be heard across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
