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                         Before the
              Federal Communications Commission
                   Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                  )
                                 )
Alexandre Pierre Abelard          )   File No. EB-03-TP-092
AKA Abelard Pierre                )
7961 Gladiolus Dr., Apt. 304      )   NAL/Acct. No. 200332700025
Fort Myers, FL 33908              )
                                 )   FRN 0008948150


                      FORFEITURE ORDER

Adopted:             September           29,            2004                                                                                
Released:  October 1, 2004

By the Assistant Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

I.   INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this Forfeiture Order (``Order''), we issue a 
monetary forfeiture in the amount of seventeen thousand 
dollars ($17,000) to Alexandre Pierre Abelard, aka Abelard 
Pierre, for willful violation of Sections 301 and 303(n) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``Act'').1 The 
noted violations involve his operation of a radio station 
without Commission authorization and refusal to allow a 
Commission inspection of his transmitting apparatus.  

     2.   On May 20, 2003, the FCC's Tampa, Florida Field 
Office (``Tampa Office'') issued a Notice of Apparent 
Liability for Forfeiture (``NAL'') to Alexandre Pierre 
Abelard proposing a forfeiture in the amount of seventeen 
thousand dollars ($17,000).2  Mr. Pierre responded to the 
NAL on June 5, 2003.

II.   BACKGROUND 

     3.   On March 3, 2003, the FCC's Tampa Field Office 
(``Tampa Office'') received a complaint from the Federal 
Aviation Administration that an unlicensed radio station 
operating on 103.3 MHz in Fort Myers, Florida was causing 
interference to aircraft communications on 119.000 MHz. 
Commission records showed no license issued for a station on 
that frequency in the Fort Myers area.  Using direction-
finding techniques on March 4, 2003, the agents determined 
the source of the signal on 103.3 MHz to be a one-story 
strip business building at 2217 Fowler Street, Fort Myers, 
Florida.  The agents also observed a spurious radio emission 
on the aviation frequency 119.000 MHz emanating from the 
same location.  The agents took field strength measurements 
of the station's signal and determined that the station's 
field strength was 2,367 times greater than the permissible 
level for unlicensed low power FM operation3.  Thus, the 
station required a license to operate. 

     4.   The agents approached the building and knocked on 
the door of 2217 Fowler Street.  No one responded to the 
door and no lights were on inside, but several minutes later 
an adult male drove up and parked directly in front of 2217 
Fowler Street. The agents interviewed the man and he 
identified himself with a driver's license as Alexandre 
Pierre Abelard (``Mr. Pierre'') of 7961 Gladiolus Drive, 
Apt. 304, Fort Myers, Florida.

     5.   Mr. Pierre stated that he was the lessee of Suite 
2217. The agents told Mr. Pierre about the radio signals and 
the license requirement, and requested to inspect the 
transmitter.  Mr. Pierre declined to allow the inspection, 
stating that he was not the operator of the station.  He 
stated that he was sub-leasing a back room of the suite to a 
friend and that only the friend had a key to the door of the 
back room where the transmitter was located, but that he 
would turn off the power to the room from his front office.  
The agents repeated their request to inspect the room 
containing the transmitter, explaining the Commission's 
legal authority to inspect radio installations and the need 
to inspect the station inside Mr. Pierre's suite because the 
station was operating illegally and causing harmful 
interference to aviation communications. Mr. Pierre again 
refused the request.  Mr. Pierre then entered 2217 Fowler 
Street and shortly thereafter the radio signals stopped.

     6.   On March 5, 2003, the agents returned to 2217 
Fowler Street, Ft. Myers, Florida and interviewed Mr. 
Pierre.  Mr. Pierre stated that the transmitter had been 
picked up earlier that day by its owner, and showed the 
agents into the back room where the transmitter had been.  
The agents noticed that the backroom had no lock, required 
no key to enter and was freely accessible from Mr. Pierre's 
suite, contrary to his statement made the day before.  Mr. 
Pierre claimed that he was the original owner of the 
transmitter, had sold it to an individual he could identify 
only as ``Jean Louis,'' but could provide no evidence of the 
transaction, or a phone number, address or even the 
existence of a ``Jean Louis.'' Mr. Pierre stated that he 
owns two businesses and runs ``Radio Independance'' on the 
internet at www.radioindependance.com/.  That web address 
describes itself as the ``Haitian Radio Network.''

     7.   In his response to the NAL, Mr. Pierre claimed 
that  he was ``not operating an illegal station as stated,'' 
that the agents had the opportunity to inspect the premises 
and were ``given the name of the owner of the device in 
question which did not have anything to do with me.''  Mr. 
Pierre further stated that the agent had left a non-working 
number for the individual to contact him. Mr. Pierre 
provided no information as to the identity, whereabouts or 
telephone number for ``Jean Louis'' and stated merely that 
he was refuting the allegations and wanted the matter ``put 
to rest.''  

III.        DISCUSSION

     8.   The proposed forfeiture amount in this case was 
assessed in accordance with Section 503(b) of the Act,4 
Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules (``Rules''),5 and The 
Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of 
Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture 
Guidelines, 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC 
Rcd 303 (1999) (``Forfeiture Policy Statement'').  In 
examining Mr. Pierre's response, Section 503(b) of the Act 
requires that the Commission take into account the nature, 
circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation and, with 
respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any 
history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and such other 
matters as justice may require.6

     9.   Section 301 of the Act states that no person shall 
use or operate any apparatus for the transmission of energy 
or communications or signals by radio within the United 
States except under and in accordance with the Act and with 
a license.  Section 15.239 of the Commission's Rules7 
permits certain unlicensed low powered radio operation, but 
the operation at Mr. Pierre's location exceeded the 
permissible unlicensed low power limits. Section 303(n) of 
the Act gives the Commission the authority to inspect all 
radio installations associated with stations required to be 
licensed. 

     10.  Mr. Pierre's response to the NAL is entitled to no 
credibility whatsoever. He stated that the room in which the 
transmitter was located was sub-leased to another individual 
and that he did not have a key to the door of the back room. 
In fact, the door to the back room housing the transmitter 
had no lock, required no key to enter and was freely 
accessible to Mr. Pierre. Further, Mr. Pierre stated that he 
would shut down the transmitter on March 4, 2003, thus 
showing he had control of the transmitter. Mr. Abelard 
refused to allow an inspection of his station and later 
claimed that he had sold the transmitter to an individual he 
could identify only as ``Jean Louis,'' but could provide no 
evidence of the transaction or a phone number, address or 
even the existence of a ``Jean Louis.''  Mr. Pierre's 
response to the NAL was equally devoid of any identifying 
information regarding the purported ``Jean Louis.''

     11.  We find that Mr. Pierre willfully8  violated 
Sections 301 and 303(n) of the Act on May 4, 2003 by 
operating radio transmitting equipment without authorization 
from the Commission and refusing to allow an inspection of 
the operating transmitter.  Mr. Pierre has submitted nothing 
warranting mitigation of the forfeiture amount and we find 
no basis for cancellation or reduction of the $17,000 
forfeiture proposed for these violations.

IV.   ORDERING CLAUSES

     12.  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(f)(4) of the 
Commission's Rules,9 Alexandre Pierre Abelard aka Abelard 
Pierre IS LIABLE FOR A MONETARY FORFEITURE in the amount of 
seventeen thousand dollars ($17,000) for willfully violating 
Sections 301 and 303(n) of the Act. 

     13.  Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the 
manner provided for in Section 1.80 of the Rules within 30 
days of the release of this Order.  If the forfeiture is not 
paid within the period specified, the case may be referred 
to the Department of Justice for collection pursuant to 
Section 504(a) of the Act.10  Payment may be made by credit 
card through the Commission's Credit and Debt Management 
Center at (202) 418-1995 or by mailing a check or similar 
instrument payable to the order of the Federal 
Communications Commission, to the Federal Communications 
Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482.  
Payment by overnight mail may be sent to Bank One/LB 73482, 
525 West Monroe, 8TH Floor Mailroom, Chicago, Illinois 
60661.  Payment by wire transfer may be made to ABA Number 
071000013, receiving bank Bank One, and account number 
1165259.  The payment must include the FCC Registration 
Number (FRN) and the NAL/Acct. No. referenced in the 
caption.  Requests for full payment under an installment 
plan should be sent to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management 
Center, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.11 

     14.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order 
shall be sent by First Class and Certified Mail Return 
Receipt Requested to Alexander Abelard Pierre aka Abelard 
Pierre, 7961 Gladiolus Drive, Apt. 304, Fort Myers, FL 
33908.  



                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 
                              COMMISSION



                              George R. Dillon
                              Assistant Chief, Enforcement 
                         Bureau
               
_________________________

147 U.S.C. §§ 301, 303(n).

2 Notice  of Apparent  Liability for  Forfeiture, NAL/Acct. 
No. 200332700025 (Enf. Bur., Tampa Office, released May 20, 
2003).

3 Under Section 15.239 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 
§ 15.239, the use of  an intentional radiator in the 88-108 
MHz band  is permitted  only if the  field strength  of the 
transmissions does not exceed 250 microvolts/meter at three 
meters.

447 U.S.C. § 503(b).

547 C.F.R. § 1.80.

647 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).

7 See footnote 3, supra.

8Section 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,'   ...  means   the   conscious  and   deliberate 
commission  or omission  of such  act, irrespective  of any 
intent to violate any provision of  this Act or any rule or 
regulation of the Commission  authorized by this Act ....''  
See Southern  California Broadcasting  Co., 6 FCC  Rcd 4387 
(1991).   

947 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80(f)(4).

10 47 U.S.C. § 504(a).

11See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.