FCC Proposes Additional Fine for Former California Amateur Licensee
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 3, 2004--Fast on the heels of a $10,000 Forfeiture Order (FO), the FCC has now proposed to fine Jack Gerritsen, ex-KG6IRO, of Bell, California, an additional $21,000 for interfering with Amateur Radio communications. The target of numerous complaints of insistent interference to numerous ham radio repeaters, Gerritsen already faces a $10,000 fine the FCC affirmed in October. The latest proposed fine stems from further specific alleged instances of interference between June and September of this year.
"Gerritsen's threats against other operators and his abusive use of amateur frequencies are the antithesis of good amateur practice and engineering," the FCC said in a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) released December 2. "Gerritsen announced to authorized amateur users that he intended to interfere with their transmissions and then proceeded to cause such interference." Based on the information before it, the FCC said it finds that Gerritsen willfully and repeatedly violated §333 of the Communications Act of 1934 by maliciously interfering with the communications of authorized Amateur Service users.
In 2001, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) swiftly rescinded its Amateur Radio license grant to Gerritsen after learning of his earlier state conviction for interfering with police communications. As a result of the conviction, which he's appealed, Gerritsen ultimately spent some time in jail. He has continued to maintain that the FCC can't take away his operating privileges without a hearing, and that he still has a ham ticket.
Gerritsen's now-pending Amateur Radio application is back in the hands of the WTB, which also will decide the fate of his General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license. The FCC set aside that grant last fall because of Gerritsen's alleged continued unlicensed operation and deliberate interference. A Hearing Designation Order for Gerritsen is said to be working its way through the FCC.
In its December 2 NAL, the Commission cited three specific instances of interference attributed to Gerritsen and mentioned several others in proposing the huge fine, which includes an "upward adjustment" from the base forfeiture amount of $7000. The NAL notes that in determining a fine, the Commission may consider the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the alleged violations as well as the suspected violator's history of prior offenses and degree of culpability. "Despite warnings and a prior NAL and Forfeiture Order, Gerritsen's unauthorized willful and malicious interfering radio operations have been ongoing for several months," said the NAL, signed by FCC Los Angeles Office District Director Catherine Deaton.
In one instance in September, the FCC said, a complaint from an ARRL Official Observer alleged that Gerritsen "deliberately and maliciously interfered with the Young Hams Net" on a 2-meter repeater. "The complaint alleged that the prerecorded messages transmitted by Gerritsen were so intense and vile they were reported to have reduced one of the younger participants to tears," the NAL recounted. On other occasions, an individual identifying himself as Jack Gerritsen and/or using the KG6IRO call sign, has monopolized various LA-area repeaters for long periods, the FCC said, preventing other users from accessing the machines.
Several times, FCC agents have tracked interfering transmissions to Gerritsen's residence. Commission representatives have advised him that he does not have authority to transmit on amateur frequencies and warned him to keep off the ham bands.
Unconfirmed but generally reliable reports say Gerritsen has not been heard on LA-area repeaters for more than two weeks now, and there's some evidence that he may be staying south of the US border--at least for the time being. He has 30 days to pay or appeal the proposed fine.
Page last modified: 03:57 PM, 03 Dec 2004 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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