amateur america arrl ham illegal interfere jack gerritsen jamming kg6iro law prohibited radio united states 9M2PJU July 25, 2012 0 Comments

Dipenjara Kerana Men-“Jamming”

(This article is about Jack Gerritsen of Bell, CA who had the amateur radio callsign KG6IRO)

Jack Gerritsen was well known in Southern California for jamming radio communications. Here is a timeline:

December 1999
Arrested by the CHP for jamming police radios from his home in Bell, CA.
June 2000
Convicted of the above charge. Placed on probation.
June 2001
Applied for an amateur radio license. Issued a Technician-class license
with the callsign KG6IRO.
Almost immediately the FCC received complaints about his on-air behavior
so they rescinded his license based on the complaints and because of
his earlier conviction.
July 2001
Local police forwarded more complaints about his on-air behavior to the
FCC. Again the FCC advised him that his license was not valid.
January 2002
Arrested for violating his probation (illegally using radios), sentenced to 18 months in prison.
June 2003
Released from prison, he begins jamming police radio, ham radio, and business band radio.
November 2003
FCC traces the illegal transmissions as originating from his home. The FCC cited him for using a radio without a license.
February 2004
FCC traces the illegal transmissions as originating from his home (again). The FCC issued a $10,000 fine against him.
June 2004
FCC traces illegal transmissions jamming the 147.435 repeater as originating from his home.
July 2004
FCC receives complaints that he is jamming the 146.985 and 147.105 repeaters.
September 2004
FCC receives complaints that he is jamming a Catalina Island repeater
net, traces the transmissions as originating from his home.
October 2004
FCC receives a complaint that he is jamming a Catalina Island repeater
while it was being used by the Coast Guard in an attempt to reach a ship
that had lost radio contact and was in possible distress. FCC traces
the jamming transmissions as originating from his home.
December 2004
The FCC issued a $21,000 fine against him for jamming ham repeaters from June 2004 to September 2004.
January 2005
The FCC issued a $21,000 fine against him for jamming the Catalina Island repeater in October 2004.
February 2005
He is observed jamming an American Red Cross radio net and an Army MARS radio net.
May 2005
The FBI and FCC pay him a visit at his home in Bell, CA. He is arrested and his radio equipment was confiscated.
He is indicted with six federal charges in regard to using a radio without a license and jamming radio transmissions.
July 2005
He is sentenced (in state court) to 4 months in jail. These were state charges separate from the FBI/FCC federal charges.
December 2005
He is convicted on various charges from the May 2005 arrest.
September 2006
He is sentenced to 7 years in federal prison.
July 2009
He appeals his conviction claiming the government erred in allowing him
to represent himself in court. The appeals court upholds his conviction.