[TNham] Gerritsen Convicted on All Counts in Radio Jamming Case

[Greg Williams]

      Gerritsen Convicted on All Counts in Radio Jamming Case

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 9, 2005--A US District Court jury has found Jack 
Gerritsen of Bell, California, guilty on six counts that included 
transmitting without a license and willful and malicious interference 
with radio transmissions. Gerritsen, 69, who briefly held the amateur 
call sign KG6IRO, will face sentencing March 6, according to the office 
of Debra W. Yang, US Attorney for the Central District of California. He 
could receive up to 15 years in federal prison.

"The Federal Communication Commission investigated illegal radio 
transmissions linked to Gerritsen for four years," said a statement from 
Yang's office after the verdict. "According to court documents filed in 
this case, the FCC investigation revealed that Gerritsen transmitted his 
prerecorded messages, as well as real-time harassment and profanity, for 
hours at a time, often making it impossible for licensed radio operators 
to use the public frequencies." A federal grand jury indicted Gerritsen 
last spring.

Gerritsen had earlier turned down the offer of a public defender and 
served as his own attorney in the federal court trial. The government's 
case, presented by Assistant US Attorney Lamar Baker, went to the jury 
December 8, and the jury deliberated for less than an hour before 
returning its verdict today. US District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner 
revoked Gerritsen's bail, and the defendant was taken into custody 
following the verdict.

Gerritsen was found guilty of interfering with a Military Affiliate 
Radio System (MARS) communication last March and interfering with 
American Red Cross communications last January--both misdemeanors--and 
of interfering with US Coast Guard communications in October 2004, a 
felony.

Those familiar with the court proceedings, which got under way December 
6, said Gerritsen tended to focus on freedom of speech issues and 
sometimes confused those giving testimony. Among those testifying at 
length on behalf of the government was FCC Senior Agent Steven Pierce, 
who discussed his use of mobile direction-finding equipment and 
techniques used in tracking the source of the illegal and interfering 
transmissions.

Just days before the trial began, the FCC affirmed a total of $42,000 in 
additional fines it had levied on Gerritsen, releasing two $21,000 
/Forfeiture Order/s (/NOF/s). In affirming the fines, the FCC rebuffed 
every argument Gerritsen had offered in responding to each /Notice of 
Apparent Liability/ (/NAL/), including his insistent "freedom of speech" 
claim.

"His unlicensed operation on amateur frequencies is not protected by the 
US Constitution as it is well established that the right to free speech 
does not include the right to use radio facilities without a license," 
the FCC said in a footnote in one of the /NOF/s. The federal court jury 
in California apparently agreed.

In late November, Klausner denied Gerritsen's motion to dismiss the 
three counts of transmitting without a license, turning away Gerritsen's 
argument that the FCC could not set aside his Amateur Radio license 
without a hearing. Klausner declared that the effect of the FCC's 2001 
set aside of KG6IRO "was to treat the application as if it had never 
been granted." Since Gerritsen never held an Amateur Radio license, he 
never had the right to a hearing, the judge reasoned.

One <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-3123A1.pdf> 
of the recent $21,000 /NOF/s involved alleged willful and repeated 
malicious interference with Amateur Radio communications. The second 
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-3124A1.pdf> 
focused on allegations of willful and repeated interference with the 
radio communications of a US Coast Guard Auxiliary officer attempting to 
use Amateur Radio frequencies to assist a sailboat in distress. Last 
March, the FCC upheld a $10,000 fine against Gerritsen for interfering 
with Amateur Radio communications. The government has yet to collect.

FBI agents, accompanied by FCC staff, arrested Gerritsen without 
incident last May and seized his radio equipment. Released on $250,000 
bond while awaiting trial, Gerritsen remained in home detention, barred 
from possessing any radio equipment.

Gerritsen's history of radio-related legal problems go back to 2000 when 
he was convicted for intercepting, obstructing and/or interfering with 
California Highway Patrol radio communications. In November 2001, the 
FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issued, then quickly rescinded, 
Gerritsen's Technician license, KG6IRO, because of his earlier 
conviction. While transmitting on various Los Angeles-area repeaters, 
Gerritsen continued to identify as KG6IRO, however.

Radio amateurs on the West Coast complained for months about the slow 
pace of enforcement action in the Gerritsen case. Los Angeles-area 
repeater owners had taken to shutting down their machines to avoid the 
nearly constant barrage of malicious interference and lengthy political 
tirades attributed to Gerritsen.