(AGENPARL) – mar 01 agosto 2023 Issued: Aug 1, 2023 (3:41pm EDT)
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California Truck Parts Manufacturer Sinister Diesel Agrees to Pay $1 Million
After Pleading Guilty to Conspiracy and for Manufacturing and Selling Illegal
Defeat Devices
WASHINGTON (Aug. 1, 2023) — Diesel performance parts manufacturer Sinister
Mfg. Company, Inc. – doing business as “Sinister Diesel” – pleaded
guilty to criminal charges today in federal court in Sacramento, California,
and agreed to pay a total of $1 million in criminal fines and civil penalties.
The company also agreed to implement a compliance program and to not
manufacture, sell or install any device that defeats a vehicle’s emissions
controls.
Sinister Diesel pleaded guilty to a two-count Information, charging it with
conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) and defraud the United States,
and with violating the CAA by tampering with the monitoring device of an
emissions control system of a diesel truck. Under the plea agreement, the
defendant agrees to pay a $500,000 criminal fine.
Sinister must pay an additional $500,000 under the civil consent decree which
the United States filed simultaneously with its civil complaint against
Sinister, alleging violations of the CAA’s prohibition against the sale or
manufacture of devices that bypass, defeat or render inoperative emissions
controls. The civil consent decree prohibits the company from making, selling
or offering to sell defeat products, including delete tuners, and prevents
Sinister Diesel from transferring intellectual property that would allow
others to make such products. To ensure compliance with these requirements,
Sinister Diesel will implement a robust internal training program and notify
its distributors and former customers about the settlement.
“For close to ten years, Sinister Diesel sold parts designed to override or
disable the emissions control systems on trucks,” said Principal Deputy
Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for the Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA
testing has shown that a vehicle altered with these parts can emit more than
100 times the amount of certain harmful air pollutants, compared to a vehicle
with an intact emissions control system. This case shows that we will
aggressively prosecute those who manufacture and sell devices designed to
defeat vehicle emissions controls.”
“Businesses that manufacture and sell illegal devices to defeat a
vehicle’s emissions controls foster pollution and risk decades of progress
in curtailing harmful emissions from motor vehicles in this country,” said
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment
and Natural Resources Division. “The plea agreement and civil settlement
show that we will take strong action to enforce the Clean Air Act and ensure
that emissions control requirements for cars and trucks are being followed.”
“Sinister Diesel sold products that allowed drivers to strip the emissions
controls from their trucks, causing a dramatic increase in the release of
pollutants that worsen air quality and harm the quality of life,” said U.S.
Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California.
“Environmental laws that control diesel pollution are especially important
to protect sensitive populations such as the young, the elderly and people who
suffer from respiratory conditions. My Office will continue to vigorously
prosecute those who place profit above the public’s health and the
environment.”
According to court documents, Sinister Diesel – from its 2010 incorporation
to April 2020 – manufactured and sold parts intended to be installed on
motor vehicles, particularly diesel trucks, to enable “deleting” the
trucks by removing or disabling the trucks’ emissions control systems.
Various products, referred to as “delete devices” or “defeat devices,”
are used in the process of “deleting” a vehicle. Sinister often sold its
products as part of “delete kits,” sometimes bundled with “delete
tunes.” The delete tunes were software produced by another company which
could alter a diesel truck’s on-board computer to allow a truck with its
emissions controls “deleted” to appear to run normally.
Through its employees, Sinister Diesel reached agreements with other companies
that manufactured tuners or tuning platforms to sell their products bundled
together.  Sinister would often advise customers on other needed parts for
their deleted vehicles to run properly with Sinister’s delete kits — such
as a tuner or tuning platform and delete tunes — and sell them those
products, too.  Sinister also counseled customers on how to evade state
emissions tests.
Though Sinister sometimes labeled its delete products for “racing” and
included disclaimers in marketing materials indicating that its products
should be used only in off-road settings, the company knew most of its delete
products were purchased by diesel truck drivers who used those products on
public roads, not racetracks. At times, approximately 25% of Sinister’s
gross revenue stemmed from its delete products. According to Sinister’s
sales statistics, between October 30, 2015, and July 17, 2017, it sold 39,792
defeat devices, including at least 35,960 kits that disable vehicles’
exhaust gas recirculation systems.
Deleting a diesel truck causes its emissions to increase dramatically. For
example, for a fully deleted truck with all emissions equipment removed, EPA
testing has quantified the increased emissions as follows: Nitrogen oxides
increased 310 times, non-methane hydrocarbons increased 1,400 times, carbon
monoxide increased 120 times and particulate matter increased 40 times.
EPA’s Air Enforcement Division released a report in November 2020 finding
that more than 500,000 diesel pickup trucks in the United States –
approximately 15% of U.S. diesel trucks that were originally certified with
emissions controls – have been illegally deleted.
Diesel emissions contain multiple hazardous compounds and harm human health
and the environment. Diesel emissions have been found to cause and worsen
respiratory ailments such as asthma and lung cancer. One study found that
21,000 American deaths annually are attributable to diesel particulate matter.
Additionally, exposure to polluted air in utero has been associated with a
host of problems with lifelong ramifications including low birth weight,
preterm birth, autism, asthma and brain and memory disorders. 
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced in the criminal case by U.S.
District Court Judge John A. Mendez for the Eastern District of California on
November 14, 2023. Though Sinister Diesel agreed to pay $500,000 in criminal
fines under its plea agreement, the company faces – for each count – a
maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the
offense. Its sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after
consideration of all applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. 
The criminal case was the product of an investigation by the EPA’s Criminal
Investigation Division, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s Sacramento Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney
Katherine T. Lydon of the Eastern District of California and Senior Counsel
Krishna S. Dighe and Trial Attorney Stephen J. Foster of the Environmental
Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division (ENRD) are prosecuting the criminal case. The federal civil case is
being handled by Senior Attorney Eric Albert and Senior Counsel Joanna Day of
the Environmental Enforcement Section of ENRD, Attorney Advisor David H. Kim
of EPA’s Region 9 office, and Janice Chan of the EPA’s Region 9 office.
Stopping the manufacture, sale, and installation of illegal delete devices is
a priority for EPA. To learn more, visit our National Enforcement and
Compliance Initiative: Stopping Aftermarket Defeat Devices for Vehicles and
Engines page. To learn more about EPA’s criminal enforcement actions on
defeat devices, visit Criminal Press Releases – 2023 and Criminal Press
Releases – 2022.
The consent decree for this settlement, lodged today in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of California, is subject to a 30-day public
comment period and approval by the court.  A copy of the consent decree and
information on submitting comments will be available on the Department of
Justice website.
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