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 Previous: Five Radio Amateurs Now Aboard ISS; Power Upgrade, PCSat2 Retrieval Set |  Next: ARRL HQ Veteran Tom Hogerty, KC1J, Taking Over Contest Branch |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 11, 2006 -- The FCC has ordered an Indiana commercial and Amateur Radio license holder, Timothy M. Doty, WB9MCD, of W Terre Haute, and a Land Mobile Service (LMS) company in which he's a principal to show cause why their respective licenses should not be revoked. In an Order to Show Cause released August 30, the FCC said it received information last year suggesting that Commercial Radio Service Inc (CRS) "may not have properly disclosed information" about Doty's felony convictions in applications it filed with the Commission.
"The character of the applicant is among those factors that the Commission considers in its review of applications to determine whether the applicant has the requisite qualifications to be a Commission licensee," the FCC said in the show cause order. Felony convictions "raise potential questions regarding a licensee's qualifications," the FCC said. "Similarly, because of the extent of his ownership and control of CRS, Mr Doty's felony convictions also raise serious questions about the character qualifications of CRS to be and remain a Commission licensee."
The FCC said CRS's response to a letter of inquiry it had sent last May determined that Doty has been a director and 50 percent shareholder of CRS, and, until last May, a CRS officer. CRS holds licenses for four Private LMS stations and one Commercial LMS station. Doty holds a General Radiotelephone Operator license in addition to his ham ticket. All of the licenses are in jeopardy.
The Commission said publicly available records show that Doty was convicted in federal court of a felony that involved manufacture and possession of unauthorized satellite TV descrambling devices. He received three years' probation and a $2000 fine in that case, the FCC said in the Order. In addition, the FCC said, publicly available records indicated Doty was found guilty in state court on a felony count of possessing a controlled substance. For that conviction, he was sentenced to 18 months' incarceration with all but 30 days suspended, the FCC said in the Order.
Subsequent to his federal and state felony convictions, the FCC asserts, CRS failed to reveal that the applicant or any party directly or indirectly controlling the applicant had ever been convicted of a felony in state or federal court.
The FCC said misrepresentation and lack of candor "raise immediate concerns as to whether a licensee will be truthful in future dealings with the Commission." CRS, the FCC maintained, should have revealed Doty's felony convictions in its Commission filings. "The Commission may revoke the license of a licensee who deliberately makes misrepresentations or lacks candor in dealing with the agency because he or she lacks the basic character qualifications to hold the license,." the FCC said.
Assuming that CRS and Doty respond to the show cause order within 30 days of its release, the Commission indicated it would schedule a hearing to determine whether Doty's felony convictions affect his and CRS's qualifications to be and remain a Commission licensee and to determine whether CRS made misrepresentations and/or lacked candor in its dealings with the FCC.
"CRS's failure to disclose the felony convictions of one of its principals raises a substantial and material question of fact as to whether CRS made false certifications, misrepresented facts to the Commission and/or demonstrated a lack of candor," the FCC said in its discussion of the case. The FCC suggested that CRS declined to reveal Doty's felony convictions because it knew the information would potentially disqualify CRS and Doty as Commission licensees.
Regardless of the outcome of the hearing on the character qualification issues, the FCC said it also would determine whether to fine CRS as much as $97,500 for its alleged failure to disclose Doty's felony convictions in one or more applications.
Since the 1990s, the FCC has applied character qualification standards previously reserved for broadcast licensees to applicants and licensees in other radio services, including the Amateur Radio Service.
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