The winner of an FM CP destined to be constructed in Speculator NY was late getting in a Form 301 – a potentially fatal error. However, in this case, the FCC decided to show mercy and hit with a relatively minor penalty.
Joseph C. Tesiero won the CP in the Adirondack Mountain community – far from any Aribrtron rated territory – and was up to date on all the requirements attached to that victory.
Except one: He was supposed to have his FCC Form 301 long form application in the FCC’s hands by 6/30/11, and didn’t get it there until 7/26/11. That could have caused his application to be dismissed and set him up for payment of default charges, which can be pricy, to say the least.
Tesiero acknowledge his error, but explained that he had been without counsel during the auction process during which he one the Speculator CP, and that his attention had been focused on both the construction of another station and on some of his other non-broadcast business dealings. He asked for a waiver of the deadline.
The FCC took it very easy on Tesiero. It said he had reasonably good cause for his delinquency, noted that it did not materially harm the auction process and that getting his Speculator station built as soon as possible was in the public interest. The FCC also said that Tesiero had shown good faith and full compliance with requirements in all other aspects of the auction.
It therefore granted him the waiver, but hit him with a $3K late-filing fine.
