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FCC Issues Flurry of Florida Pirate Fines

Penalties range from $25,000 to $1,000

There’s been a lot of pirate fine activity by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau in the last several days.

Durrant Clarke was successful in getting a $10,000 fine knocked down to $1,000 based on documentation backing up his inability to pay the larger amount. He was cited for operating an unlicensed transmitter on 95.9 MHz from his Miami business in 2010. The FCC said Clarke admitted he allowed someone called “Brother Gary” to place a portable radio system in his business “to spread the word of God,” and turned the gear on and off. Clarke has 30 days to pay the fine.

The commission also issued three Notices of Apparent Liability to three other people for operating pirate stations. It issued a $25,000 NAL against Whistler Fleurinor for operating an unlicensed transmitter on 99.5 MHz in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in 2011. The agency raised the fine by $15,000 because it said Fleurinor continued operating the illegal station “on the same frequency from the same commercial property” after he was issued an earlier fine of $20,000.

That time, the FCC lowered the penalty to $500 based on Fleurinor’s inability to pay the larger fine.

This week, the FCC stated: “The fact that Mr. Fleurinor would again commit the same violation — and multiple times after he had already been found to be in serious violation in the first NAL — demonstrates not only the egregiousness of the violations here, but also his deliberate disregard for the Act and the commission’s rules.”

The commission also issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to Robens Cheriza for operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 107.3 MHz from his residence in West Palm Beach, Fla. The FCC received an interference complaint from the Federal Aviation Administration about illegal transmissions reported by its control tower at the Palm Beach International Airport. The FCC traced the illegal transmissions on 107.3 MHz to Cheriza’s residence and said they saw an FM transmitter connected by coax to the transmitting antenna. Cheriza admitted operating the station for about a month and said he knew that was illegal. On the night when the airport experienced interference, Cheriza told agents he had broadcast a party from his home. He has 30 days to seek to have the fine reduced or cancelled, or pay the amount.

Lastly, Mercius Dorvilus received the base fine of $10,000 for operating a station illegally on 92.7 MHz in Pompano Beach, Fla. He told a detective from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office that he bought and installed the gear in his rented room and was responsible for operating the transmitter. The FCC, citing Florida business records, said Dorvilus is doing business as “Radio VisionFM 927, Inc.” and has registered the domain name, www.visionfm.org. Dorvilus, too, has 30 days to try to have the fine reduced, cancelled or paid.

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