MIAMI — Fabrice Polynice, the long-time operator of an unlicensed FM radio station at 90.1 MHz based in North Miami, Fla., has received a multimillion-dollar fine from the FCC under its “PIRATE Act” authority for the continued broadcasts of the pirate operation.
It is one of five proposed fines against a total of five unlicensed radio operators in the Sunshine State, and are actions resulting from the FCC’s first sweep of the Miami area under the law, which was enacted exactly four years ago.
The quintet of fines against broadcast buccaneers total $3.5 million, and are possible thanks to the January 2020 enactment of the “Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act.”
Under the legislation, the FCC was given the ability to significantly increase its fines handed to pirate radio operators, pushing it up to inflation-adjusted amounts of $119,555 per day and a maximum of $2,391,097. That’s the exact dollar amount of the Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture handed to Polynice, specifically for the operation of “Radio Touche Douce” across 22 days in 2023.
RBR+TVBR on January 14, 2024 independently confirmed the continued broadcasts of this unlicensed radio operation from Coral Gables, Fla., some 17 miles to the southwest.
The FCC acknowledged that Polynice is one of the longest operating pirates in the Miami area. In fact, he received a forfeiture order in 2018 and, before that, in 2013.
While Polynice’s proposed fine is the largest by far, the FCC also proposed fines of $358,665—the maximum penalty for three days of violations in 2023—against Brindley Marshall, Wilfrid Salomon, and Cameron Brown.
According to the FCC, the three individuals have been operating pirate radio stations “for years” and have received multiple warnings to cease their unauthorized broadcasting.
Lastly, the FCC proposed a forfeiture of $120,000 against Abdias Datis for operating a pirate radio station during three days in 2023.
In a statement issued during the FCC’s January Open Meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “These operators were not just using the public airwaves unlawfully, they were increasing the risk for harmful interference of authorized users. That is unacceptable.”
Rosenworcel thanked the Field Regional Management and Agents in the FCC’s Miami Field Office for their work on the investigations. “This is a team on the front lines of enforcing our rules governing the public airwaves,” she said. “I am grateful for their efforts, which have been boosted in a big way by congressional action in the ‘PIRATE Act.'”
Rosenworcel also thanked “those in Washington who took up their work and converted it into what we have here today, including Loyaan Egal, Jeremy Marcus, Matthew Gibson, Ryan McDonald, Michael Rhodes, David Marks, Robert Keller, and Reggie Breshears from the Enforcement Bureau; and William Dever and David Konczal from the Office of General Counsel.”
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