WTVE President Guilty of Fraud

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The Rev. Frank D. McCracken, president of Reading, Pa., independent TV station WTVE, has pleaded guilty to three fraud schemes related to corruption in Philadelphia City Hall and evading taxes on $500,000 in airtime sales commissions at the station.

According to a report in the local newspaper, the Reading Eagle, McCracken faces a sentence of two to three years in federal prison and will repay up to $200,000 in owed taxes to the IRS.

McCracken, a former city councilman, was accused of mail fraud, loan fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

WTVE is a Christian-themed station that reaches 4 million homes in the Philadelphia area over the air and on cable.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.