The FCC has proposed fining a New York City man $23,000 for unlicensed
operation on amateur radio frequencies and transmitting a false distress call
over a New York Police Department (NYPD) frequency. According to the ARRL Letter, the FCC issued a Notice of
Apparent Liability at the end of August to Daniel Delise of Astoria, New York.
Delise has been under FCC scrutiny for four years.
The subject of multiple complaints that the FCC had not been
able to verify, Delise was confronted by FCC field agents at his home last
April, while transmitting on the 2-meter band, according to the ARRL. He
admitted making the transmissions and was cited for unlicensed operation. Within
a few weeks, the NYPD arrested Delise for making a false officer-in-distress
call on one of its radio channels and for possessing radios capable of
operating on police frequencies, which is against state law (licensed amateurs
are exempted).
The FCC may have trouble collecting the fine … the ARRL Letter
reports that Delise pled guilty to the state charges against him and is now in
prison.
