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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 22, 1999 |
News Media Contact: David Fiske or Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500. |
November 23, 1999
The FCC Enforcement Bureau announced today that on November 16, 1999, the Grand Jury serving the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, indicted Khalid Kubweza, formerly Anthony Marshall, on four counts of operating an unlicensed FM station on 91.7 MHz from his residence in Richmond, VA.
Previous actions have failed to deter the operation of an unauthorized FM station from the Kubweza residence. In September 1995, equipment was seized from the Kubweza residence and was ultimately forfeited to the United States.
Radio equipment was again used to transmit FM broadcasts on 91.7 MHz from the Kubweza residence in 1998 and 1999. The U.S. Marshal Service, with the assistance of FCC agents, executed a search warrant earlier this year and seized the unlicensed station's radio equipment from Mr. Kubweza's home. Additionally, on November 3, 1999, a complaint for forfeiture was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, to forfeit the seized equipment to the United States.
The operation of an unlicensed broadcast station is a violation of Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Operators of illegal, unlicensed broadcast stations may be subject to monetary penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, seizure by court order of all radio equipment involved in the operation, or court order enjoining the operator from operating an illegal station. In addition, unlicensed operators could be subject to criminal fines of up to $100,000 or imprisonment of up to one year, or both, for a first time offense.