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Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Daniel Granda ) File Numbers: EB-03-LA-050
) EB-2002-347
Licensee of Amateur Station ) NAL/Acct. No. 200432900001
KA6VHC ) FRN 0008889461
Whittier, California
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: March 31, 2004
By the District Director, Los Angeles Office, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture
("NAL"), we find Daniel Granda, licensee of Amateur radio station
KA6VHC, has willfully and repeatedly violated Sections 308(b) and
333 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended and Sections
97.101(b) and 97.101(d) of the Commission's Rules.1
Specifically, we find Mr. Granda apparently liable for failure to
respond to official Commission correspondence and causing
intentional interference to Amateur radio communications. We
conclude, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended (``Act''),2 that Daniel Granda is apparently
liable for a forfeiture in the amount of eleven thousand dollars
($11,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. On December 4, 2002, the Enforcement Bureau issued via
regular and certified mail a Warning Notice to Mr. Granda for
causing deliberate interference to amateur repeater stations
KD6ZLZ and WA6NJJ, based upon a complaint received by the Bureau
on November 18, 2002.3 Mr. Granda was required to provide,
within 60 days of the date of the letter, a detailed plan to
prevent interference to repeaters KD6ZLZ and WA6NJJ. The
December 4, 2002, Notice sent via certified mail to Mr. Granda
was returned as ``Unclaimed'' on January 6, 2003. The Notice
sent by regular mail was not returned to the Enforcement Bureau.
3. On January 7, 2003, the Commission issued via regular
and certified mail a follow-up Warning Notice that included the
December 4, 2002, Warning Notice and enclosed a complaint about
interference from Mr. Granda's station.4 The January 7, 2003,
Notice sent via certified mail to Mr. Granda was returned as
``Unclaimed'' on January 13, 2003. The Notice sent by regular
mail was not returned to the Commission.
4. On January 13, 2003, the District Director of the Los
Angeles Field Office issued a Warning Notice to Mr. Granda,
through certified and regular mail, that his station was
transmitting improperly and causing interference to other
stations, and that automatic control must cease and not be
resumed without prior approval5. The Notice sent via certified
mail to Mr. Granda was returned as ``Unclaimed'' on January 30,
2003. The Notice sent by regular mail was not returned to the
Los Angeles Field Office.
5. On March 6, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
determined that Mr. Granda's station, KA6VHC, was re-transmitting
communications from 223.275 MHz onto 222.24/223.84 MHz, the
input/output frequencies of another Amateur repeater, WA6NJJ.
6. On March 21, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
recorded Mr. Granda's station, KA6VHC, interfering with the input
frequency of the WA6NJJ repeater. Again, Mr. Granda's station,
KA6VHC, was re-transmitting communications from 223.275 MHz onto
the repeater station operating on the frequencies 222.24/223.84
MHz.
7. On April 1, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
determined that Mr. Granda's station, KA6VHC, was re-transmitting
communications from 147.4375 MHz onto the repeater station
operating on the frequencies 222.24/223.84 MHz.
8. On April 2, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
positively identified, through mobile direction finding
techniques, transmissions from Mr. Granda's residence at 5522
Greenleaf Avenue, Whittier, CA 90601, as the source of an
unidentified un-modulated carrier.
9. On April 8, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
monitored 222.24/223.84 MHz and determined, by direction finding
techniques, that Mr. Granda's station, KA6VHC, was retransmitting
communications from 147.49 MHz onto the repeater station
operating on the frequencies 222.24/223.84 MHz and interfering
with ongoing radio communications.
10. On April 14, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
determined that KA6VHC was re-transmitting communications from
147.4375 MHz onto the repeater station operating on the
frequencies 222.24/223.84 MHz. The agent also identified and
recorded radio interference transmitted by KA6VHC on the
frequency 223.84.
11. On April 15, 2003, agents of the Los Angeles Office
positively identified the source of radio signals on 222.24 MHz
through mobile direction finding to 5522 Greenleaf Avenue,
Whittier, the residence of Mr. Granda. The agents conducted an
inspection of Mr. Granda's station at that location and observed
radio equipment capable of transmitting on all of the frequencies
referenced above. Mr. Granda orally admitted that he received
several Warning Notices from the Commission. During the
inspection, Mr. Granda stated that a person in Covina was using
``his'' frequency, 222.24/223.84 MHz. Additionally, Mr. Granda
stated he was trying to prevent anyone from using ``his''
frequency by re-transmitting 147.49 MHz signals on 222.24/223.84
MHz to ``keep the channel occupied''.
12. On April 16, 2003, an agent of the Los Angeles Office
observed that audio from 147.49 MHz was being re-transmitted onto
222.24/223.84 MHz from Mr. Granda's residence.
III. DISCUSSION
13. Section 503(b) of the Act provides that any person who
willfully or repeatedly fails to comply substantially with the
terms and conditions of any license, or willfully or repeatedly
fails to comply with any of the provisions of the Act or of any
rule, regulation or order issued by the Commission thereunder,
shall be liable for a forfeiture penalty.6 The term "willful" as
used in Section 503(b) has been interpreted to mean simply that
the acts or omissions are committed knowingly.7 The term
"repeated" means the commission or omission of such act more than
once or for more than one day.8
14. Section 308(b) of the Act states that the Commission,
at any time after the filing of an original application, may
require from a licensee written statements of fact to determine
if a license should be revoked. On three separate occasions,
December 4, 2002, January 7, 2003, and January 13, 2003, Mr.
Granda was issued Notices by the Commission, requiring responses.
In all three cases, Mr. Granda failed to respond to the Notices
issued by the Commission.
15. Section 333 of the Act and Section 97.101(d) of the
Commission's Rules states that no amateur operator shall
willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to
any radio communication or signal. Additionally, Section
97.101(b) states that each licensee and control operator must
cooperate in selecting transmitting channels and no frequency
will be assigned for the exclusive use of any station. Mr.
Granda willfully and maliciously caused interference to other
stations and conducted activity in an effort to obtain exclusive
use of the channel for his own station. These activities
occurred on March 6, March 21, April 1, April 2, April 8, April
14, April 15 and April 16, 2003.
16. Based on the evidence before us, we find that Granda
operated radio transmitting equipment in willful and repeated
violation of Section 308(b) of the Act, Section 333 of the Act,
Section 97.101(d) and 97.101(b) of the Rules by failing to
respond to Commission correspondence and causing malicious
interference and transmitting signals in an attempt to
exclusively use a frequency.
17. The base forfeiture amount set by The Commission's
Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of Section 1.80 of the
Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines (``Forfeiture
Policy Statement''),9 and Section 1.80 of the Commission's
Rules,10 for failure to respond to Commission correspondence is
$4,000 and causing interference is $7,000. In assessing the
monetary forfeiture amount, we must take into account the
statutory factors set forth in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act,11
which include the nature, circumstances, extent, gravity, ability
to pay, and other such matters as justice may require. Applying
the Forfeiture Policy Statement and the statutory factors to the
instant case, we believe that an eleven thousand dollar ($11,000)
monetary forfeiture is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
18. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and
Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, Daniel
Granda is hereby NOTIFIED of this APPARENT LIABILITY FOR
FORFEITURE in the amount of twelve thousand dollars ($11,000) for
willful and repeated violations of Section 308(b) and Section 333
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, Section 97.101(b)
and Section 97.101(d) of the Commission's Rules.12
19. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of
the Rules, within thirty days of the release date of this NOTICE
OF APPARENT LIABILITY, Daniel Granda SHALL PAY the full amount of
the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking
reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.
20. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by mailing a
check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection Section,
Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, and P.O. Box
73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The payment should note the
NAL/Acct. No. and FRN referenced in the caption.
21. Any response to this NAL must be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission Office of the Secretary, 445 12th
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554, Attn: Enforcement Bureau-
Spectrum Enforcement Division and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No.
and FRN referenced in the caption.
22. The Commission will not consider reducing or canceling
a forfeiture in response to a claim of inability to pay unless
the petitioner submits: (1) federal tax returns for the most
recent three-year period; (2) financial statements prepared
according to generally accepted accounting practices; or (3) some
other reliable and objective documentation that accurately
reflects the petitioner's current financial status. Any claim of
inability to pay must specifically identify the basis for the
claim by reference to the financial documentation submitted.
23. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice
of Apparent Liability under an installment plan should be sent
to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management Center, 445 12th Street,
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.13
24. Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002,
Pub L. No. 107-198, 116 Stat. 729 (June 28, 2002), the FCC is
engaged in a two-year tracking process regarding the size of
entities involved in forfeitures. If you qualify as a small
entity and if you wish to be treated as a small entity for
tracking purposes, please so certify to us within thirty (30)
days of this NAL, either in your response to the NAL or in a
separate filing to be sent to the Spectrum Enforcement Division.
Your certification should indicate whether you, including your
parent entity and its subsidiaries, meet one of the definitions
set forth in the list provided by the FCC's Office of
Communications Business Opportunities ("OCBO") set forth in
Attachment A of this Notice of Apparent Liability. This
information will be used for tracking purposes only. Your
response or failure to respond to this question will have no
effect on your rights and responsibilities pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Act. If you have questions regarding any of the
information contained in Attachment A, please contact OCBO at
(202) 418-0990.
25. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT this Notice shall be sent,
by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, and by regular mail,
to Daniel Granda, 5522 Greenleaf Avenue, Whittier, CA 90601.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Catherine Deaton
District Director
Los Angeles District Office
- Unhandled Picture -
Enclosure: FCC List of Small Entities
_________________________
1 47 U.S.C. §§ 308(b), 333 and 47 C.F.R. §§ 97.101(b), 97.101(d).
2 47 U.C.S. § 503(b).
3 See Warning Notice from W. Riley Hollingsworth, Special
Counsel, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission,
to Mr. Daniel Granda, dated December 4, 2002.
4 See Warning Notice from W. Riley Hollingsworth, Special
Counsel, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission,
dated January 7, 2003.
5 See Warning Notice from Catherine Deaton, District Director,
Los Angeles Office, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications
Commission, dated January 13, 2003.
6 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
7 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed under
Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that "[t]he term 'willful',
when used with reference to the commission or omission of any
act, means the conscious and deliberate commission or omission of
such act, irrespective of any intent to violate any provision of
this Act ...." See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC
Rcd 4387 (1991).
8 Section 312(f)(2) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(2), which
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed under
Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that "[t]he term 'repeated',
when used with reference to the commission or omission of any
act, means the commission or omission of such act more than once
or, if such commission or omission is continuous, for more than
one day."
9 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999).
10 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4).
11 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
12 47 U.S.C. §§ 503(b), 308(b), 333; 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311,
1.80, 97.101(b), 97.101(d).
13 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.