PATERSON — Federal agents have dismantled an illegal salsa radio station whose broadcasts interfered with a New York public radio station.
Authorities from the U.S. Marshals Service, along with investigators from the Federal Communications Commission, raided 439 E. 32nd St. and 196 Jasper St. on May 11 and seized radio equipment used to operate the pirate salsa station on 90.5 FM.
According to civil court documents unsealed Tuesday, Jairo Diaz, who lived at both locations, operated the station and dodged the government's repeated attempts to stop him.
Diaz did not return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday.
In addition to the equipment seized, Diaz, along with Frank Rodriguez of 276 Ellison St., was fined $10,000.
"Despite repeated verbal and written warnings, the unlicensed radio station operating on 90.5Mhz continues to broadcast," Jafer Aftab, assistant U.S. attorney, wrote on May 6 in a document requesting that the federal District Court allow federal agents to enter the two locations and take the equipment. "The equipment used in this type of operation is highly portable. Any delay could result in the removal of the equipment to another location or concealment beyond the writs of entry."
Michael Drewniak, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Diaz and Rodriguez would not face criminal charges.
"They were just shut down," Drewniak said Tuesday, adding, "It's not a criminal matter."
The FCC first received complaints about the station in November 2006, when a fan of WFUV 90.7 FM contacted the commission's New York enforcement bureau and said that salsa music was muddling 90.7 FM's transmission, according to court documents. FCC investigators determined that the illegal radio station was being broadcast from the Jasper Street and 32nd Street addresses.
From that time until this February, FCC officials told Diaz and Rodriguez repeatedly that operating the station was a violation of federal law, court documents show. Diaz and Rodriguez either promised to dismantle the station or ignored the FCC's request completely, according to court documents.
In 2007 an FCC official observed the radio station studio at the Jasper Street residence and tried to speak with the owner about taking it down. But a man who said he was responsible for the building but would not identify himself told officials to come back with a warrant.
Federal law requires that radio stations be licensed by the FCC in order to broadcast, except stations that have low-power radio transmissions.
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