FCC slaps ex-Idaho Nazi sympathizer with nearly $10 million fine for racist robocalls [View all]

A Nazi sympathizer and former Idaho resident faces a $9.9 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission after he plagued various parts of the country with racist, anti-Semitic and threatening robocalls.

Scott D. Rhodes, 51, who moved to Libby, Montana, from Sandpoint, in North Idaho, in late 2018, spent much of that year recording vitriolic messages that rang tens of thousands of phones in at least eight states.

In addition to attacking Black and Jewish politicians, Rhodes’ messages threatened a journalist in Sandpoint, targeted an Iowa community grieving the murder of a local college student, and attempted to influence the jury in a murder case against a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In announcing the fine on Jan. 14, the FCC said Rhodes repeatedly violated the Truth in Caller ID Act by manipulating the calls to make them appear as if they came from local phone numbers, a process known as “neighbor spoofing.”

Read more: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article248885559.html