Washington trucking co. owner admits to using illegal ‘delete tune’ files, $300K COVID loan fraud

The owner of multiple Spokane, Washington-based trucking companies pleaded guilty to charges related to tampering with pollution controls on trucks used by his businesses, federal authorities say.

On December 13, officials announced that Pavel Ivanovich Turlak and his trucking companies, PT Express, LLC, Spokane Truck Service, LLC, and Pauls Trans, LLC, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 business relief funding.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, between August 2017 and November 2023, Turlak purchased illegal “delete tune” files from Florida-based Ryan Hugh Milliken and his company, Hardaway Solutions, LLC. 

The “delete tune” files, used to tamper with a diesel truck’s pollution control systems, were used on trucks at Turlak’s businesses and also on the trucks of co-conspirators who were customers of Spokane Truck Service.

Between March 2020 and August 2021, Turlak obtained over $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funding. However, authorities say “Turlak and his businesses were not eligible to receive this funding due to their ongoing participation in a conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act; yet, Turlak and his businesses falsely certified that they were eligible for this funding.”

In November 2024, Milliken and Hardway Solutions also pleaded guilty to Clean Air Act violations.

“Mr. Turlak pursued a business of profiting from pollution. By installing emission defeat devices in his own vehicles and the vehicles of others, he sought an illegal competitive advantage and evaded important safeguards designed to protect public health and the environment,” stated U.S Attorney Waldref. “Families in Eastern Washington deserve to breathe cleaner air, and I am grateful for our partners on our Environmental Task Force who are committed to protecting our community. Working together we will continue to ensure a healthy, high quality of life and keep our region safe and strong.”

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