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NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 25, 2005--Briefly licensed radio amateur and alleged jammer Jack Gerritsen, ex-KG6IRO, of Bell, California, now faces a total of $52,000 in FCC-imposed or proposed fines. In a January 21 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) the FCC proposed to levy another $21,000 forfeiture on Gerritsen--this time for apparently violating Section 333 of the Communications Act by interfering with a US Coast Guard rescue effort last October 29 on amateur frequencies. Part 97 Amateur Service rules also require that control operators "give priority to stations providing emergency communications," the FCC noted.
"Gerritsen's apparent willful and malicious interference with the radio communications of the Coast Guard Auxiliary officer who was attempting to communicate with a ship in distress is egregious," said the most recent NAL, signed by FCC Los Angeles District Office District Director Catherine Deaton. "According to the evidence, Gerritsen knowingly operates, without a license, radio transmission equipment." In the NAL, the FCC alleged that Gerritsen continued to transmit "despite repeated warnings and requests to vacate the frequency."
The latest proposed forfeiture factors in an "upward adjustment" from the $7000 base fine for causing interference to licensed stations, the NAL said. The FCC already has affirmed a $10,000 fine levied against Gerritsen last year for interfering with Amateur Radio communications. In December, the Commission proposed an additional $21,000 fine, citing additional instances of alleged interference on amateur frequencies.
Erroneously claiming he's still licensed, Gerritsen has been accused of bombarding numerous Los Angeles-area repeaters with verbal tirades, often identifying with his now-deleted amateur call sign. The FCC in 2001 granted Gerritsen a Technician ticket, then promptly set it aside when it learned of Gerritsen's state conviction for interfering with public safety radio communications. Gerritsen spent some time in jail as a result of that case, which he's appealing.
The FCC has advised Gerritsen orally and in writing that he has no authority to operate radio transmitting equipment on amateur frequencies. He has claimed--incorrectly--that the FCC cannot take away his operating authority without a hearing.
In mid-December, the ARRL called upon FCC Enforcement Chief David Solomon to intervene with the US Attorney's office in the Gerritsen case, citing the urgency of the situation and suggesting "that procedures other than monetary forfeitures be brought to bear." ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, suggested in the letter that the time for gathering additional evidence was past, since the malicious interference continues.
According to the FCC, the October 29, 2004, incident involved efforts by a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary to contact the sailing vessel Elke-Marie after a storm rendered the boat's VHF marine radio non-operational. The vessel had working Amateur Radio gear, however. When the USCGA officer attempted to contact the S/V Elke-Marie on behalf of the Coast Guard using the Catalina Island Amateur Radio Association (CARA) VHF repeater, "Gerritsen began speaking and transmitting a prerecorded message," the officer and the complainant in the case--the wife of a passenger on the sailboat--alleged.
Although the officer asked him to stand down, Gerritsen continued to transmit, accusing the officer of declaring a sham emergency in an effort to jam Gerritsen's transmissions. "Gerritsen," the NAL recounts, "continued transmitting for approximately 40 minutes, repeatedly playing a taped recording and ultimately ending his transmission by saying, 'If you jam me, I'll jam you.'"
Within 90 minutes of the incident, FCC agents tracked a signal on the repeater's input frequency to Gerritsen's residence, but attempts to contact him by telephone proved unsuccessful. Later that same day, FCC officials tracked to Gerritsen's residence a transmission on another 2-meter frequency during which the operator identified using KG6IRO. As the agents approached Gerritsen's front door, they heard a voice from inside the dwelling that "synchronized with the voice heard on the agent's handheld scanner," the NAL said. No one answered the door, however.
A CARA official told the FCC's Los Angeles office that he had not only monitored the alleged interference by Gerritsen but had recorded the incident. The recording was provided to the FCC.
In the NAL, Deaton said the Communications Act requirement that all radio stations give "absolute priority" to radio communications or signals relating to ships in distress "exemplifies one of the best uses for radio transmissions, the endeavor to save a human life."
"Gerritsen's actions on October 29, 2004," she concluded, "exemplify the worst." The FCC's Los Angeles District Office has primary enforcement responsibility over the Gerritsen case.
Several hundred ARRL members from the Los Angeles area have complained to the League about Gerritsen's alleged activities. In its letter in December, the ARRL called on the Enforcement Bureau to "arrange for appropriate proceedings to be initiated to cause the incessant and damaging malicious interference to cease."
FCC Enforcement Bureau Assistant Chief George R. Dillon responded to the League by saying the Commission was "treating the allegations contained in your letter and the complaints we have received regarding his actions very seriously."
The FCC will post the latest NAL against Gerritsen on its Field Issued Citations Web page.
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