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President Donald Trump pardoned nine people convicted of violating the Clean Air Act by tampering with diesel vehicle emissions-control systems.
On Friday, Trump announced six of the pardons on Truth Social, arguing that the men he granted clemency to were “persecuted by the Biden Administration” and punished for “fixing their car.”
Eight of the people Trump pardoned were diesel mechanics or car tuners who were prosecuted for selling and installing so-called “defeat devices” into trucks, according to a Fox News review of federal court records.
These devices reprogram trucks to bypass federally required emissions controls and suppress diagnostic warnings. Without them, many diesel trucks can enter a “limp” mode that limits speed — sometimes to as little as 5 mph — until the emissions system is restored.
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Trucks can also enter this limp mode when emissions controls fail. These failures are extraordinarily common and have been causing massive headaches for truckers and farmers for years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
People are more than willing to pay top dollar to mechanics who can do the job of disabling the emissions-limiting systems.
Matthew Geouge, one of the pardon recipients, ran two companies that sold illegal tuning devices. Just from the sale of those devices alone, his firms grossed more than $10 million, according to his December 2021 plea agreement.
Emissions-capping technology, specifically Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) systems, is also prone to malfunctions in extremely cold weather.
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Brad Bylsma, a state equipment fleet manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF), said in March that DEF systems account for a “significant portion of our maintenance issues and costs” with state-owned diesel vehicles.
Frederic Sifuentes, the president of Alaska-based transportation service, put it more bluntly.
“The percentage of breakdowns we have here in Alaska with the DEF systems is roughly 85 percent of the time,” he said.
Another pardon recipient, MacKenzie “Mac” Spurlock, was a mechanic in Alaska who modified emissions controls on vehicles for exactly this reason, according to Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
“Four years ago, about 30 armed EPA agents conducted a military-style tactical raid of Matanuska Diesel, owned by Mac Spurlock — a devoted husband and father, small business owner, and veteran of the Alaska Air National Guard,” Sullivan said in a statement celebrating Spurlock’s pardon.
“His shop had assisted trucking businesses by modifying several diesel emissions-control systems mandated by a one-size-fits-all Obama-era emissions regulation, ensuring the vehicles wouldn’t shut down in Alaska’s harsh, subzero conditions,” Sullivan added.
The other men who received pardons for similar conduct included Ryan and Wade Lalone, Tim Clancy, Joshua Davis, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf, and Jonathan Achtemeier, CBS News reported.
In late January 2026, the Trump administration announced it would no longer pursue criminal charges for manufacturers, distributors and users of defeat devices. Civil penalties could still apply.
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