May 20, 2021—A pair of shop owners in Washington have been indicted for allegedly conspiring to remove pollution control hardware from diesel trucks and tampering with emissions monitoring systems, The Reflector reported.
The indictment alleges the people charged had violated the federal Clean Air Act 11 times, including tampering with emissions monitoring systems on vehicles by removing pollution control equipment between January 2018 and November 2020.
“By removing required pollution control devices, the defendants caused their customers’ diesel trucks to spew pollutants into the air at a rate of up to 300 times the pollution caused by compliant trucks,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman stated in the DOJ release. “These defendants increased toxins in our environment that are linked to cancer, as well as pulmonary, neurological, cardiovascular, and immune system damage. And they collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for doing so.”
The grand jury indictment charges co-owners Sean and Tracy Coiteux and their service manager, Nick Akerill, along with corporations in control of Racing Performance Maintenance Northwest, based in Ridgefield, and Woodland company RPM Motors and Sales NW, the report said. The defendants face up to five years in prison for conspiracy, the release stated.
