Colorado business and owner sentenced for deleting pollution controls from 344 commercial vehicles in ‘large-scale conspiracy’
A Colorado company and its owner were sentenced in connection with a “widespread conspiracy” to tamper with emissions controls on hundreds of diesel trucks across the U.S.
On December 5, 2024, Troy Lake Sr. was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in custody and a fine of $2,500, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
Elite Diesel Service Inc. (Elite), a company owned by Lake, was sentenced to make a payment of $12,500 to a program operated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment to repair the emissions control systems on vehicles owned by low-income drivers who cannot afford to bring their vehicles into compliance.
Lake and Elite previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act.
Officials say that between January 2017 and December 2020, Elite and Lake instructed Elite employees to disable the computerized on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems on at least 344 heavy-duty commercial trucks.
“Elite’s co-conspirators, companies that operated diesel truck garages or diesel truck fleets, had disabled the emissions control hardware on these trucks and hired Elite and Lake to manipulate the OBDs so that the OBDs would not detect the malfunctions,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Lake and Elite were involved in “a widespread conspiracy to tamper with emission controls on diesel trucks across the country” involving eight co-conspirators located in seven different states who were previously been sentenced, federal authorities said. These co-conspirators who cooperated with the government investigation were sentenced to probation, fines, and payments towards community service projects, including:
- Endrizzi Diesel LLC of Bolivar, MO, was assessed a penalty of $220,000 including a fine and a community service payment to the Walnut Grove, MO School District to help replace old school buses with newer and cleaner school buses.
- Pro Diesel Inc. of Des Moines, IA, was assessed a penalty of $155,000 including a fine and a community service payment to the Des Moines Area Community College to fund development of curricula to train diesel mechanics on servicing emissions controls.
- McDermid Sales & Service Inc. of Oconto Falls, WI, was assessed a penalty of $112,500 including a fine and a community service payment to the Oconto Falls School District to help replace old school buses with newer and cleaner school buses.
- Hammes Repair Inc. of Seneca, KS, was assessed a penalty of $117,500 including a fine and a community service payment to the Kansas Department of Health & Environment for the purchase of electric groundskeeping equipment to replace old gas-fired equipment.
- Crossroads Repair Inc. of Jamestown, ND, was assessed a penalty of $97,500 including a fine and a community service payment to the Jamestown Rural Fire Department to help replace an old firefighting truck with a newer and cleaner truck.
- ATP Oilfield Services LLC of Fort Lupton, CO, was assessed a penalty of $107,500 including a fine and a community service payment to the CDPHE program to repair emissions controls on vehicles owned by low-income drivers.
- Beatty Bodyworks Inc. of Oklahoma City, OK, was assessed a fine of $15,000 based on defendant’s inability to pay a higher fine.
- Perkins Diesel LLC of Strafford, MO, was assessed a penalty of $95,500 including a fine and a community service payment to the Walnut Grove, MO School District to help replace old school buses with newer and cleaner school buses.
“For years, the defendants led a large-scale conspiracy designed to violate the Clean Air Act by defeating emissions control equipment on hundreds of heavy-duty commercial trucks,” said Special Agent in Charge Lance Ehrig of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in Colorado. “The actions by the defendants and their co-conspirators directly resulted in a significant increase in excess pollution, which diminished air quality and further placed vulnerable populations at risk of developing adverse health conditions. Today’s sentencing demonstrates that individuals and companies who violate our nation’s environmental laws and threaten our nation’s air quality will be held criminally responsible for their actions.”