(AGENPARL) – gio 24 agosto 2023 Issued: Aug 24, 2023 (6:08pm EDT)
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Idaho Diesel Parts Companies and Owner Plead Guilty to Selling and Installing
Illegal Defeat Devices and Agree to Pay $1 Million
WASHINGTON (August 24, 2023) – Diesel performance parts retailers GDP Tuning
LLC and Custom Auto of Rexburg LLC, dba Gorilla Performance, as well as the
companies’ owner Barry Pierce, pleaded guilty to criminal charges today in
federal court in Pocatello, Idaho, and agreed to pay a total of $1 million in
criminal fines. The companies also agreed to implement compliance programs and
to not manufacture, sell or install any device that defeats a vehicle’s
emissions controls.
GDP Tuning pleaded guilty to an information charging it with conspiracy to
violate the Clean Air Act (CAA). Gorilla Performance and Pierce pleaded guilty
to an information charging them with violating the CAA by tampering with the
monitoring device of an emissions control system of a diesel truck. Under the
plea agreement, the companies and Pierce agree to pay a $1 million criminal
fine. Pierce also faces up to two years in prison.
“Nearly a decade after EPA began cracking down on illegal defeat devices
that violate the Clean Air Act, there is no excuse for companies to be
continuing to cheat on vehicle emissions and putting the health of the
environment and our communities at risk,” said Assistant Administrator David
M. Uhlmann of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA will continue to pursue criminal
charges against companies like Gorilla Performance, which broke the law
brazenly and repeatedly, until this egregious criminal activity comes to a
stop once and for all.”
“Tampering with vehicles’ on-board diagnostic devices isn’t just a
violation of federal law – it’s a major health hazard,” said Assistant
Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and
Natural Resources Division. “People are harmed as a direct consequence of
the many air pollutants that would be removed by emissions controls systems
absent the illegal tampering. We have made progress in curbing harmful
emissions, but that progress is undermined by sellers and distributors of
defeat devices. We are committed to enforcing the Clean Air Act and holding
accountable businesses and individuals that violate federal law.”
“The defendants in this case purposefully violated laws that protect air
quality and the overall quality of life for Idahoans, especially vulnerable
populations such as children, the elderly and those who suffer from
respiratory conditions,” said U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of
Idaho.  “My office will continue to partner with law enforcement agencies
to prosecute those who seek illegal profits at the expense the public’s
health and our shared environment.”
According to court documents, GDP Tuning conspired with Pierce and others to
violate the CAA by purchasing and selling tens of thousands of tuning devices
and accompanying software which, when used together, tampered with vehicles’
on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems. OBDs normally detect any removal and
malfunction of a vehicle’s emissions control equipment and record a
diagnostic trouble code which will illuminate a vehicle’s “check engine
light.” If the malfunction is not remedied, some vehicles can go into
“limp mode,” where the maximum speed is limited to 5 mph as an incentive
to have the vehicle repaired.
GDP Tuning bought and sold devices and software that allowed customers to
reprogram or “tune” a vehicle’s OBD. This reprogramming tampers with
emissions monitoring built into the diagnostic system and allows removal of
the vehicle’s emissions control equipment without detection by the OBD.
Removing a vehicle’s emissions controls is typically referred to as a
“delete” and is accompanied by a “delete tune.”
In addition to GDP Tuning’s national wholesale operation, Gorilla
Performance and Pierce operated a retail shop and auto repair facility in
Rexburg, Idaho, where customers’ trucks were deleted and tuned.
Diesel exhaust contains a variety of air pollutants, such as particulate
matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide and non-methane
hydrocarbons, among other hazardous air pollutants. Factory-standard emissions
control equipment dramatically reduces these emissions.
Deleting a diesel truck causes its emissions to increase dramatically. For a
fully deleted truck with all emissions equipment removed, EPA testing has
quantified the increased emissions as follows: NOx increased 310 times,
non-methane hydrocarbons increased 1,400 times, carbon monoxide increased 120
times and PM 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 that 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.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 8 before U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn
Winmill for the District of Idaho. Though the corporate defendants agreed to
pay $1 million in criminal fines under the plea agreements, they face a
maximum fine per count of $500,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain derived
from the offense, and Pierce faces up to two years in prison. The
defendants’ sentences will be determined at the discretion of the court
after application of statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines,
which consider a number of variables.
The criminal case stemmed from an investigation by the EPA’s Criminal
Investigation Division. U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho,
Senior Trial Attorney Cassandra Barnum of the Environment and Natural
Resources’ Environmental Crimes Section and EPA Regional Criminal Enforcement
Counsel Karla Perrin are prosecuting the case.
Stopping the manufacture, sale and installation of illegal delete devices is a
priority for EPA. To learn more,
visit?www.epa.gov/enforcement/national-compliance-initiative-stopping-aftermarket-defeat-devices-vehicles-and-engines.
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