Ham Talks Himself Into Jail--for a Second Time : Hobbyist: The only person ever to be imprisoned for illegally broadcasting on amateur radio is sentenced for another violation. He served six months in 1984.

The only person in the United States ever to be jailed for talking illegally on ham radio was ordered back to federal prison Monday for broadcasting again without a license.

Radio hobbyist Richard A. Burton of Harbor City was sentenced to seven months in custody by U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew after he was convicted by a federal jury of talking on Los Angeles amateur radio frequencies four times last May and July.

In 1984, Burton served 6 1/2 months for illegally transmitting after his ham license was suspended by the Federal Communications Commission during a dispute over alleged obscene language. The obscenity charge was later overturned, but the license revocation continued.

Burton, 48, has contended that the FCC crackdown came after former President Ronald Reagan heard a tape-recording of one of his raunchy transmissions after a Bel-Air church service.

“I blame Ronald Reagan. I think he said something and the FCC took it as a presidential order,” Burton said Monday. “When Bush was pardoning everybody involved with Reagan, he should have pardoned me.”

Reagan said last year that he had no recollection of the church incident. FCC officials have denied being pressured by the White House to prosecute Burton.

“We got a bunch of complaints from local hams about him,” said Jim Zoulek, an FCC engineer who testified that he caught Burton with microphone in hand last July 6 after using direction-finding gear to track him to Redondo Beach.

Burton’s problems have divided Southern California’s 50,000 radio amateurs. While some were writing letters of complaint about him last year, others were chipping in to hire a lawyer to help him win his license back.

“I’ve known Richard for 20 years and he’s a great guy in person,” said Roy Tucker, a 42-year ham operator from La Mirada who owns a mountaintop signal repeater station used by local enthusiasts. “But you can’t make a mockery of the law.”

Burton claimed he tried to abide by FCC rules after his first trip to prison.

“But the law has been on the books for 60 years and only one person has ever gone to jail: me,” he said Monday as he watched other defendants led into court in chains and listened as a cocaine trafficker received a 16-month sentence.

“I didn’t hurt anybody. Nobody lost any money because of me. There were no victims with what I did.”

Along with the prison term, Lew ordered Burton to undergo psychological counseling and perform 500 hours of community service.

“Yours is a very strange case,” Lew told him.

Said Burton: “I think I need to get myself a different hobby.”