[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 2, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37954-37956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15033]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[DA 08-1417]


Notice of Debarment; Schools and Libraries Universal Service 
Support Mechanism

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Enforcement Bureau (the ``Bureau'') debars Mr. Rafael G. 
Adame from the schools and libraries universal service support 
mechanism (or ``E-Rate Program'') for a period of three years based on 
his conviction of wire fraud in connection with his participation in 
the program. The Bureau takes this action to protect the E-Rate Program 
from waste, fraud and abuse.

DATES: Debarment commences on the date Mr. Rafael G. Adame receives the 
debarment letter or July 2, 2008, whichever date come first, for a 
period of three years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Lee, Federal Communications 
Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division, 
Room 4-C330, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. Diana Lee may 
be contacted by phone at (202) 418-0843 or e-mail at [email protected]. 
If Ms. Lee is unavailable, you may contact Ms. Vickie Robinson, 
Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, by telephone at 
(202) 418-1420 and by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau debarred Mr. Rafael G. Adame from 
the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism for a 
period of three years pursuant to 47 CFR 54.8 and 47 CFR 0.111. 
Attached is the debarment letter, DA 08-1417, which was mailed to Mr. 
Rafael G. Adame and released on June 13, 2008. The complete text of the 
notice of debarment is available for public inspection and copying 
during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, 
Portal II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. In 
addition, the complete text is available on the FCC's Web site at 
http://www.fcc.gov. The text may also be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating inspection and copying during regular business 
hours at the contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., Portal II, 445 
12th Street, SW., Room CY-B420, Washington, DC 20554, telephone (202) 
488-5300 or (800) 378-3160, facsimile (202) 488-5563, or via e-mail 
http://www.bcpiweb.com.

Federal Communications Commission.
Hillary DeNigro,
Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau.
    The debarment letter, which attached the suspension letter, 
follows:

June 13, 2008.

DA 08-1417

Via Certified Mail; Return Receipt Requested and Facsimile (956-664-
2703).

Mr. Rafael G. Adame, c/o Eric Samuel Jarvis, Esq., Alvarez & Jarvis, 
PC, 6521 N. 10th Street, Suite A, McAllen, TX 78504, E-Mail: 
[email protected].

[[Page 37955]]

Re: Notice of Debarment, File No. EB-07-IH-9547

    Dear Mr. Adame: Pursuant to section 54.8 of the rules of the 
Federal Communications Commission (the ``Commission''), by this 
Notice of Debarment you are debarred from the schools and libraries 
universal service support mechanism (or ``E-Rate program'') for a 
period of three years.\1\
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    \1\ See 47 CFR 0.111(a), 54.8.
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    On April 2, 2008, the Enforcement Bureau (the ``Bureau'') sent 
you a Notice of Suspension and Initiation of Debarment Proceedings 
(the ``Notice of Suspension'').\2\ That Notice of Suspension was 
published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2008.\3\ The Notice of 
Suspension suspended you from the schools and libraries universal 
service support mechanism and described the basis for initiation of 
debarment proceedings against you, the applicable debarment 
procedures, and the effect of debarment.\4\
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    \2\ Letter from Hillary S. DeNigro, Chief, Investigations and 
Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications 
Commission, to Mr. Rafael G. Adame, Notice of Suspension and 
Initiation of Debarment Proceedings, 23 FCC Rcd 5518 (Inv. & 
Hearings Div., Enf. Bur. 2008) (Attachment 1).
    \3\ FR 24287 (May 2, 2008).
    \4\ See Notice of Suspension, 23 FCC Rcd at 5519-21.
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    Pursuant to the Commission's rules, any opposition to your 
suspension or its scope or to your proposed debarment or its scope 
had to be filed with the Commission no later than thirty (30) 
calendar days from the earlier date of your receipt of the Notice of 
Suspension or publication of the Notice of Suspension in the Federal 
Register.\5\ The Commission did not receive any such opposition.
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    \5\ See 47 CFR 54.8(e)(3) and (4). That date occurred no later 
than June 2, 2008. See supra note 3.
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    As discussed in the Notice of Suspension, you pled guilty to and 
were convicted of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343, for 
your participation in the E-Rate program.\6\ You admitted to 
submitting fraudulent invoices to the Universal Service 
Administrative Company for reimbursement from the E-rate program.\7\ 
Such conduct constitutes the basis for your debarment, and your 
conviction falls within the categories of causes for debarment under 
section 54.8(c) of the Commission's rules.\8\ For the foregoing 
reasons, you are hereby debarred for a period of three years from 
the debarment date, i.e., the earlier date of your receipt of this 
Notice of Debarment or its publication date in the Federal 
Register.\9\ Debarment excludes you, for the debarment period, from 
activities ``associated with or related to the schools and libraries 
support mechanism,'' including ``the receipt of funds or discounted 
services through the schools and libraries support mechanism, or 
consulting with, assisting, or advising applicants or service 
providers regarding the schools and libraries support mechanism.'' 
\10\
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    \6\ See Notice of Suspension, 23 FCC Rcd at 5519.
    \7\ See id.
    \8\ Id. at 5519; 47 CFR 54.8(c).
    \9\ See Notice of Suspension, 23 FCC Rcd at 5520.
    \10\ See 47 CFR 54.8(a)(1), 54.8(a)(5), 54.8(d); Notice of 
Suspension, 23 FCC Rcd at 5520-21.

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    Sincerely,

Hillary S. DeNigro,

Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau.
cc: Kristy Carroll, Esq., Universal Service Administrative Company 
(via e-mail);
    Duncan S. Currie, Esq., Chief, Dallas Field Office, Antitrust 
Division, Department of Justice.

April 2, 2008.

DA 08-770

Via Certified Mail; Return Receipt Requested and Facsimile (956-664-
2703).

Mr. Rafael G. Adame, c/o Eric Samuel Jarvis, Esq., Alvarez & Jarvis, 
PC, 6521 N. 10th Street, Suite A, McAllen, TX 78504, E-Mail: 
[email protected].

Re: Notice of Suspension and Initiation of Debarment Proceedings, File 
No. EB-07-IH-9547

    Dear Mr. Adame: The Federal Communications Commission (``FCC'' 
or ``Commission'') has received notice of your conviction for wire 
fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343 in connection with your 
participation in the schools and libraries universal service support 
mechanism (``E-Rate program'').\11\ Consequently, pursuant to 47 CFR 
54.8, this letter constitutes official notice of your suspension 
from the E-Rate program. In addition, the Enforcement Bureau 
(``Bureau'') hereby notifies you that we are commencing debarment 
proceedings against you.\12\
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    \11\ Any further reference in this letter to ``your conviction'' 
refers to your conviction of seven counts of wire fraud. United 
States v. Rafael Gongora Adame, Criminal Docket No. 7:06-CR-1082, 
CRIMINAL NO. M-06-1082, Judgment (S.D. Tex. filed Mar. 3, 2008 and 
entered Mar. 11, 2008) (``Adame Judgment'').
    \12\ 47 CFR 54.8; 47 CFR 0.111 (delegating to the Enforcement 
Bureau authority to resolve universal service suspension and 
debarment proceedings). The Commission adopted debarment rules for 
the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism in 
2003. See Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism, 
Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 
18 FCC Rcd 9202 (2003) (``Second Report and Order'') (adopting 
section 54.521 to suspend and debar parties from the E-rate 
program). In 2007, the Commission extended the debarment rules to 
apply to all of the Federal universal service support mechanisms. 
See Comprehensive Review of the Universal Service Fund Management, 
Administration, and Oversight; Federal-State Joint Board on 
Universal Service; Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support 
Mechanism; Lifeline and Link Up; Changes to the Board of Directors 
for the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc., Report and 
Order, 22 FCC Rcd 16372, 16410-12 (``Program Management Order'') 
(renumbering section 54.521 of the universal service debarment rules 
as section 54.8 and amending subsections (a)(1), (5), (c), (d), 
(e)(2)(i), (3), (e)(4), and (g)).
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I. Notice of Suspension

    The Commission has established procedures to prevent persons who 
have ``defrauded the government or engaged in similar acts through 
activities associated with or related to the schools and libraries 
support mechanism'' from receiving the benefits associated with that 
program.\13\ On November 19, 2007, the United States District Court 
of Texas sentenced you to serve three years in prison following your 
conviction on seven counts of wire fraud in connection with your 
participation in the E-Rate program.\14\ As the owner of ATE Tel, a 
vendor that provided computer-related goods and services to various 
school districts, including the Weslaco Independent School District 
in South Texas, you submitted fraudulent invoices via wire 
communications to the Universal Service Administrative Company 
(``USAC'') for reimbursement from the E-Rate program.\15\ By making 
false representations on invoices filed with USAC, you fraudulently 
obtained more than $106,000 in illegitimate payments from the 
federal E-Rate program.\16\
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    \13\ See Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9225, para. 66; 
Program Management Order 22 FCC Rcd at 16387, para. 32. The 
Commission's debarment rules define a ``person'' as ``[a]ny 
individual, group of individuals, corporation, partnership, 
association, unit of government or legal entity, however, 
organized.'' 47 CFR 54.8(a)(6).
    \14\ See generally Adame Judgment at 1.
    \15\ United States v. Rafael Gongora Adame, Criminal Docket No. 
7:06-CR-1082, CRIMINAL NO. M-06-1082, Indictment, 3 (S.D. Tex. filed 
Dec. 6, 2006 and entered Dec. 12, 2006) (``Adame Indictment''). See 
United States v. Rafael Gongora Adame, Criminal Docket No. 7:06-CR-
1082, CRIMINAL NO. M-06-1082, Verdict (S.D. Tex. filed Feb. 9, 2007 
and entered Mar. 20, 2007) (``Adame Verdict''); Adame Judgment; 
Department of Justice Press Release: Former Telecom Owner Sentenced 
to Three Years in Prison for Scheme to Defraud Federal E-Rate 
Program, 1 (``DOJ November 20 Press Release'').
    \16\ See Adame Judgment; see also DOJ November 20 Press Release 
at 1.
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    Pursuant to section 54.8(a)(4) of the Commission's rules,\17\ 
your conviction requires the Bureau to suspend you from 
participating in any activities associated with or related to the 
schools and libraries fund mechanism, including the receipt of funds 
or discounted services through the schools and libraries fund 
mechanism, or consulting with, assisting, or advising applicants or 
service providers regarding the schools and libraries support 
mechanism.\18\ Your suspension becomes effective upon the earlier of 
your receipt of this letter or publication of notice in the Federal 
Register.\19\
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    \17\ 47 CFR 54.8(a)(4). See Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 
at 9225-9227, paras. 67-74.
    \18\ 47 CFR 54.8(a)(1), (d).
    \19\ Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9226, para. 69; 47 
CFR 54.8(e)(1).
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    Suspension is immediate pending the Bureau's final debarment 
determination. In accordance with the Commission's debarment rules, 
you may contest this suspension or the scope of this suspension by 
filing arguments in opposition to the suspension, with any relevant 
documentation. Your request must be received within 30 days after 
you receive this letter or after notice is published in the Federal 
Register, whichever comes first.\20\ Such requests, however, will 
not ordinarily be granted.\21\ The Bureau may reverse or limit the 
scope of suspension only upon a finding of extraordinary 
circumstances.\22\

[[Page 37956]]

Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Bureau will decide any 
request for reversal or modification of suspension within 90 days of 
its receipt of such request.\23\
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    \20\ 47 CFR 54.8(e)(4).
    \21\ Id.
    \22\ 47 CFR 54.8(f).
    \23\ See Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9226, para. 70; 
47 CFR 54.8(e)(5), 54.8(f).
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II. Initiation of Debarment Proceedings

    Your conviction in connection with the E-Rate program, in 
addition to serving as a basis for immediate suspension from the 
program, also serves as a basis for the initiation of debarment 
proceedings against you. Your conviction falls within the categories 
of causes for debarment defined in section 54.8(c) of the 
Commission's rules.\24\ Therefore, pursuant to section 54.8(a)(4) of 
the Commission's rules, your conviction requires the Bureau to 
commence debarment proceedings against you.
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    \24\ ``Causes for suspension and debarment are the conviction of 
or civil judgment for attempt or commission of criminal fraud, 
theft, embezzlement, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction 
of records, making false statements, receiving stolen property, 
making false claims, obstruction of justice and other fraud or 
criminal offense arising out of activities associated with or 
related to the schools and libraries support mechanism, the high-
cost support mechanism, the rural healthcare support mechanism, and 
the low-income support mechanism.'' 47 CFR 54.8(c). Such activities 
``include the receipt of funds or discounted services through [the 
federal universal service] support mechanisms, or consulting with, 
assisting, or advising applicants or service providers regarding 
[the federal universal service] support mechanisms.'' 47 CFR 
54.8(a)(1).
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    As with your suspension, you may contest debarment or the scope 
of the proposed debarment by filing arguments and any relevant 
documentation within 30 calendar days of the earlier of the receipt 
of this letter or of publication in the Federal Register.\25\ Absent 
extraordinary circumstances, the Bureau will debar you.\26\ Within 
90 days of receipt of any opposition to your suspension and proposed 
debarment, the Bureau, in the absence of extraordinary 
circumstances, will provide you with notice of its decision to 
debar.\27\ If the Bureau decides to debar you, its decision will 
become effective upon the earlier of your receipt of a debarment 
notice or publication of the decision in the Federal Register.\28\
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    \25\ See Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9226, para. 70; 
47 CFR 54.8(e)(3).
    \26\ Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9227, para. 74.
    \27\ See id., 18 FCC Rcd at 9226, para. 70; 47 CFR 54.8(e)(5).
    \28\ Id. The Commission may reverse a debarment, or may limit 
the scope or period of debarment upon a finding of extraordinary 
circumstances, following the filing of a petition by you or an 
interested party or upon motion by the Commission. 47 CFR 54.8(f).
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    If and when your debarment becomes effective, you will be 
prohibited from participating in activities associated with or 
related to the schools and libraries support mechanism for three 
years from the date of debarment.\29\ The Bureau may, if necessary 
to protect the public interest, extend the debarment period.\30\
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    \29\ Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 9225, para. 67; 47 
CFR 54.8(d), 54.8(g).
    \30\ Id.
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    Please direct any response, if by messenger or hand delivery, to 
Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 236 
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002, to the 
attention of Diana Lee, Attorney Advisor, Investigations and 
Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau, Room 4-C330, with a copy to 
Vickie Robinson, Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings 
Division, Enforcement Bureau, Room 4-C330, Federal Communications 
Commission. If sent by commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. 
Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail), the response should 
be sent to the Federal Communications Commission, 9300 East Hampton 
Drive, Capitol Heights, Maryland 20743. If sent by first-class, 
Express, or Priority mail, the response should be sent to Diana Lee, 
Attorney Advisor, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement 
Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Room 4-C330, Washington, DC 20554, with a copy to Vickie Robinson, 
Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement 
Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Room 4-C330, Washington, DC 20554. You shall also transmit a copy of 
the response via e-mail to [email protected] and to 
[email protected].
    If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Lee via mail, by 
telephone at (202) 418-1420 or by e-mail at [email protected]. If 
Ms. Lee is unavailable, you may contact Ms. Vickie Robinson, 
Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, by telephone 
at (202) 418-1420 and by e-mail at [email protected].

    Sincerely yours,

Trent Harkrader,
Deputy Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement 
Bureau.

cc: Kristy Carroll, Esq., Universal Service Administrative Company 
(via e-mail);
    Duncan S. Currie, Esq., Chief, Dallas Field Office, Antitrust 
Division, Department of Justice.

[FR Doc. E8-15033 Filed 7-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P