After owner Roger Wahl pled guilty in July 2020 to felony charges of trying to solicit male strangers to rape his female friend facilitated through his Oldies “QZ 93” 93.3 WQZS Meyersdale PA, the FCC has designated the station for a hearing on whether he possesses the requisite character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee..
The FCC states, “Wahl’s guilty plea to criminal use of a communication facility, a third-degree felony, by itself, raises the question under the Commission’s Character Qualifications Policy Statement whether he possesses the requisite character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee. Reliability is a key element of character necessary to operate a broadcast station in the public interest. The propensity to comply with the law generally is relevant to character qualifications, and an applicant or licensee’s willingness to violate other laws, and, in particular, to commit felonies, is indicative of whether the applicant or licensee will conform to the Commission’s rules or policies. Evidence of any felony conviction is relevant to an applicant’s or licensee’s character.”
“We also find that Wahl’s multiple misdemeanor convictions support our decision to designate this matter for hearing. While felony convictions, among all criminal convictions, are most relevant to our evaluation of an applicant’s character, the Commission has the discretion to consider serious misdemeanor convictions in appropriate cases. We find that this is such a case. Although Wahl does not have a record of multiple criminal convictions over time, he pleaded guilty not only to a felony, but also to an array of misdemeanor criminal offenses (identity theft, unlawful dissemination of an intimate image, recklessly endangering another person, and tampering with evidence) based on misconduct involving multiple actions over a period of time designed to harm his victim seriously and then evade responsibility for those actions. Even though Wahl’s attempt to inflict physical harm on the victim failed, he did inflict substantial emotional harm. Furthermore, the fundamental purpose of the Commission’s character inquiry is to make predictive judgments about an applicant’s truthfulness and propensity to comply with the Act and the Rules. For this reason, we find that Wahl’s misdemeanor convictions directly implicate his character qualifications.”
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com