Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
December 15, 2011
DA 11-2022
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
AND E-MAIL
Mr. Tyrone D. Pipkin
c/o Mr. Walter Francis Becker, Jr.
Chaffe McCall LLP
Energy Centre
1100 Poydras St., Suite 2300
New Orleans, LA 70163-2300
Re: Notice of Debarment
File No. EB-11-IH-1071
Dear Mr. Pipkin:
The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) hereby notifies you
that, pursuant to Section 54.8 of its rules, you are prohibited from
participating in the schools and libraries universal service support
mechanism (E-Rate program) for three years from either the date of your
receipt of this Notice of Debarment, or of its publication in the Federal
Register, whichever is earlier in time (Debarment Date).
On August 17, 2011, the Commission's Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) sent you
a Notice of Suspension and Initiation of Debarment Proceeding (Notice of
Suspension) that was published in the Federal Register on September 2,
2011. The Notice of Suspension suspended you from participating in
activities associated with or relating to the schools and libraries
universal service support mechanism and described the basis for initiating
debarment proceedings against you, the applicable debarment procedures,
and the effect of debarment.
As discussed in the Notice of Suspension, you and others conspired to
control the E-Rate application and implementation process for several
schools located in four states. Specifically, you obstructed the open
competitive bidding process by paying school officials $79,382 in bribes
and kickbacks to ensure more than $1.4 million in E-Rate contracts would
be steered to your company, Global Networking Technologies, Inc. For your
role in the conspiracy, you were sentenced to serve one year and one day
in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release for federal
crimes in connection with your participation in a scheme to defraud the
E-Rate program. The court ordered you to pay a $6,000 criminal fine in
addition to your sentence. Pursuant to Section 54.8(c) of the Commission's
rules, your conviction of criminal conduct in connection with the E-Rate
program serves as a basis for your debarment.
In accordance with the Commission's debarment rules, you were required to
file with the Commission any opposition to your suspension or its scope,
or to your proposed debarment or its scope, no later than 30 calendar days
from either the date of your receipt of the Notice of Suspension or of its
publication in the Federal Register, whichever date occurs first. The
Commission did not receive any such opposition.
For the foregoing reasons, you are debarred for three years from the
Debarment Date. During this debarment period, you are excluded from
participating in any activities associated with or related to the E-Rate
program, including the receipt of funds or discounted services through the
schools and libraries support mechanism, or consulting with, assisting, or
advising applicants or service providers regarding the schools and
libraries support mechanism.
Sincerely,
Theresa Z. Cavanaugh
Acting Chief
Investigations and Hearings Division
Enforcement Bureau
cc: Johnnay Schrieber, Universal Service Administrative Company (via
e-mail)
Rashann Duvall, Universal Service Administrative Company (via email)
Juan Rodriguez, Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice
(via e-mail)
Marvin Opotowsky, Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice
(via e-mail)
47 C.F.R. S: 54.8(g) (2010). See also 47 C.F.R. S: 0.111 (delegating
authority to the Enforcement Bureau to resolve universal service
suspension and debarment proceedings).
Letter from Theresa Z. Cavanaugh, Acting Chief, Investigations and
Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
to Tyrone D. Pipkin, Notice of Suspension and Initiation of Debarment
Proceeding, DA 11-1424, 26 FCC Rcd 11389 (Inv. & Hearings Div., Enf. Bur.
2011).
76 Fed. Reg. 54768 (Sept. 2, 2011).
Supra note 2.
Notice of Suspension, 26 FCC Rcd at 11390.
Id.
See United States v. Tyrone D. Pipkin, Criminal Case Nos. 10-325 and 11-15
"A", Judgment (E.D. La. filed June 21, 2011).
Notice of Suspension, 26 FCC Rcd at 11391.
47 C.F.R. S: 54.8(c).
47 C.F.R. S:S: 54.8 (e)(3), (4). Any opposition had to be filed no later
than September 16, 2011.
47 C.F.R. S:S: 54.8(e)(5), (g).
47 C.F.R. S:S: 54.8(a)(1), (5), (d).
Tyrone D. Pipkin
December 15, 2011
Page 2 of 2
Federal Communications Commission
Enforcement Bureau
Investigations and Hearings Division
445 12th Street, SW, Suite 4-C330
Washington, D.C. 20554