The FCC fined Haitian broadcaster and activist Sylvane Simon ten thousand dollars today for illegally operating a low power radio station in the Boston area.

The forfeiture order charges Simon with the "willful and repeated" violation of sections of the 1934 Communications Act that forbid operating radio transmission equipment without a license.

Simon is a Haitian expatriate who runs Radio Nouveaute from Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood where many Haitians live. The station's Web site describes the frequency, at 1640AM, as "committed to empower the multi-ethnic community of Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roxbury, Roslindale, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and their surrounding in attaining social and economic development through their own initiative."

The FCC sent Simon a Notice of Apparent Liability in July of 2005 after monitoring Radio Nouveaute with a mobile direction finder. According to the station's Web site, it has been broadcasting since January of 1998.