FCC Votes $2.3 Million Pirate Radio Penalty

The full FCC approved a $2.3 million penalty against two New York City pirate radio operators, plus an $80,000 penalty for another pirate radio operator in La Grande, Oregon, according to two forfeiture orders released Friday. An FCC official confirmed that new Commissioner Anna Gomez voted on the items, though it's not clear if they were her first votes since being sworn in. The full commission -- then without Gomez -- approved two notices of apparent liability against the same offenders in March (see 2303150075). The $2.3 million forfeiture against Cesar Ayora and Luis Ayora in Queens, New York, stems from a series of violations going back to 2013. Their pirate station, called Radio Impacto2, ran on 105.5 FM for years despite an unpaid previous forfeiture order, repeated warnings and seized broadcast equipment, the order said. The station has a website advertising it as the official station for Ecuadorians in New York and it appears to still be operating. The NAL noted the station was operating in March. The Avoras and the station didn’t comment. The $80,000 penalty against La Grande, Oregon-based Thomas Barnes references pirate operations going back to 2018. Barnes refers to himself as “the Eastern Oregon pirate” in his content, including in audio posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, last week in which he claimed to still be broadcasting on the same FM station listed in his forfeiture order. The station's website also bills itself as Pirate Radio Eastern Oregon. Barnes couldn’t be reached for comment.