A 31-year-old DJ who ran a Haitian, reggae, and rap station out of a room in a Pompano Beach home must pay the Federal Communications Commission $10,000 by the end of next month or face a suit from the Department of Justice, according to federal documents.
FCC enforcement agents raided a home where Mercius Dorvilus was renting a room last June, where they seized radio transmitting equipment, a mixer, a laptop, and an air conditioner Dorvilus was using to run a station on 92.7 FM. The FCC handed down the $10,000 fine on January 31, but Dorvilus had a month to challenge the fine. According to the documents, he didn't.
"Unauthorized transmission and/or interference with a public radio station" is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison -- in addition to the fine. Dorvilus was arrested last year on those charges, but an online summary of his court case doesn't indicate much about the charges -- it says his next hearing is scheduled for next January.
Monday's forfeiture order is pretty boring, but here's the January ruling about the fine:
