A proposed penalty handed by the FCC in September 2024 to the individual behind unlicensed broadcasts of “Radio Leve Kanpe” in an Essex County, N.J., city has been codified by the Commission, with a Forfeiture Order sent to Masner Beauplan on Wednesday.
Now comes the tricky matter of enforcing the steep fine.
Thanks to the “PIRATE Act,” the FCC was able to draft a $920,000 financial penalty against Beauplan, after the Commission learned that unlicensed airings of Haitian Creole “Radio Leve Kanpe” on 91.7 MHz in Irvington, N.J., and in Maplewood, N.J., from November 2023 to January 2024 were linked to him.
The 91.7 MHz frequency is a first-adjacency to WNYE-FM 91.5 in New York, just 13 air miles away; there’s also an FM translator at 91.9 MHz licensed to Weehawken, N.J. but using a transmitter in Manhattan.
Will Beauplan respond? That’s a difficult question to answer, as he didn’t file any retort to the Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture handed to him one year ago. If so, could he take the same route as notorious Haitian Creole radio pirate Fabrice Polynice, who has ignored the FCC for years as his “Radio Touche Douce” has illegally used the 90.1 MHz frequency in North Miami, Fla.
Polynice took a cue from former FCC Commissioner Nate Simington by writing to the Commission that its forfeiture order had no merit, as the Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright and Jarkesy cases sent the message that a federal agency’s financial penalty decision could not be the final one, leaving it to the judicial system to assess.
In a related matter, a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $60,000 was proposed and sent to Pelege Marcellin and “Radio Energy Inc.” for the rare instance of operating an unlicensed AM radio station in the expanded band.
“Radio Energy Boston” was found to have been using the 1620 kHz frequency in the pirate radio hotbed of Mattapan, Mass., and also the 1640 kHz frequency in Brockton, Mass.
Unlicensed broadcasts were detected on September 11, 2024, resulting in two apparent violations, the FCC said.
The NALF is the result of a complaint of interference submitted to the Commission by WUNR-AM 1600 in Brookline, Mass., a multicultural radio station licensed to Champion Broadcasting Systems.
Publicity didn’t help Marcellin, who was interviewed for an October 2022 article about Radio Energy Boston; the article was found in an FCC search for information on the internet. The article showed Marcellin in photos clearly indicating the use of at least one of the two AM signals — without a license.
