The Environmental Protection Agency really doesn’t like it when diesel truck owners remove factory-equipped and legally-mandated emissions devices. When four business owners conspire to smuggle tens of millions of dollars worth of illegal emissions defeat devices into the country, however, the federal government is gonna get your ass. It’s probably not a smart idea to call your business “DPF Delete Shop, Inc.” if you’re going to illegally delete diesel particulate filters. That’s like a drug dealer putting up a big neon sign that says “I Sell Heroin To Children.”
An Eastern Washington grand jury has indicted father and son Joshua and John Owens on six counts of smuggling, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, and money laundering.
The Owens’ allegedly purchased $33 million worth of emissions defeat equipment between December 2015 and November 2023 from their Canadian counterparts Kevin Paul Dodd and Philip John Sweeney. Business records indicate the Owens’ received over $74 million in revenue from the sale and distribution of these devices. These guys saw high-profile diesel emissions defeat fines happening all around them for years and continued chugging along doing business they knew to be against federal law.
One of the defendants wrote that the operation was on “borrowed time” in May of 2020, as the EPA filed an inquiry into their business dealings. In June of that year the Owens family disintegrated the shop’s legal entity and started dpfdeletshop.com with a business address listed in the Cayman Islands. It was in this way that the pair thought they were in the clear to continue dealing illegal smuggled goods until they were caught late last year.
“Attempting to profit from evading pollution control systems puts the health and safety of everyone in our community at risk, especially children and individuals who suffer from asthma and respiratory illnesses,” said Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “Strong and fair enforcement of environmental and public health laws ensures a safer community for all families to live, learn, play, and work.”
Dodd and Sweeney allegedly conspired with the Owens’ to disguise the shipments of parts across the border. Sweeney wrote over email in May of 2022, “John we have lots of ways that we can get stuff across the border, I will give you a call later I just need you to be complacent and how we do it and I don’t wanna do it over email.”
The Owens’ face up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy charges, while the smuggling and money laundering charges bring a maximum sentence of 20 years. Additional fines may be headed their way as well, as Rudy’s Performance Parts was hit with a $2.4 million fine, Sinister Diesel paid $1 million, as did GDP Tuning, and even The Discovery Channel’s Diesel Brothers were hit with an $850,000 fine.
