Florida company pleads guilty to selling illegal ‘delete tune’ software to Spokane trucking companies

A Florida business owner and his company pleaded guilty to charges related to selling illegal software designed to defeat emissions controls on diesel trucks to trucking companies in the Spokane, Washington, area.

Ryan Hugh Milliken and his company, Hardaway Solutions, LLC pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Clean Air Act, according to an October 24, 2024 release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.

Officials say that between August 2017 and November 2023, Milliken and Hardway created and sold illegal “delete tune” files designed to disable and defeat required diesel emissions controls and monitoring systems. The “delete tune” files were created for specific customers based on their vehicle specifications, “including for numerous Spokane-based trucking companies and their owner, Pavel Ivanovich Turlak, who is also charged in the Indictment that names Milliken and Hardway.”

“Heavy-duty diesel trucks are also required under the Clean Air Act to maintain an onboard-diagnostic system which monitors the functionality of the hardware emissions control components.  In order to ensure that the required emissions control systems are functioning properly, if the system detects that an emissions control component is not working, or has been removed, it will ultimately put the truck into what is known as “limp mode,” which limits the top speed to as low as 5 miles per hour,” officials said.

“Mr. Milliken had an illegal business built around defeating important safeguards regulating the amount of emissions from diesel engines,” stated U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref. “These safeguards are critical to protecting public health and a safe environment. I am grateful to investigators with the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, technical experts with EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, and prosecutors in my office who work to achieve environmental justice and make Eastern Washington a clean, safe place to live and work.”

The case was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Inspector General, and the Spokane Police Department.