Two men from British Columbia are among four accused of conspiring to smuggle illegal devices to override emission controls on trucks from Canada into the U.S. and selling them online for USD$74 million.
A federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington indicted Kevin Paul Dodd, of Maple Ridge, Philip John Sweeney, of Coquitlam, John Wesley Owens, of Manson, WA and Joshua Wesley Owens, of Mapleton, UT, according to a news release.
They face allegations of smuggling, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and money laundering conspiracy. Their B.C. residents’ businesses were named – Evolution Auto Performance, Evo Tunes and KX Wheels.
Heavy-duty diesel trucks are required under the Clean Air Act to maintain an onboard-diagnostic system which monitors the functionality of the hardware emissions control components. If the system detects that an emissions control component is not working, or has been removed, it will put the truck into “limp mode,” which limits speed to as low as 5 miles per hour.
Hardware and software designed to disable these emissions controls, commonly known as “defeat devices”, can greatly increase the emissions of dangerous pollutants into the atmosphere.
Illegal import
According to the indictment, between December 2015 and November 2023, the Owens purchased more than $33 million dollars in illegal emissions defeat devices from Dodd, Sweeney, and their companies. Dodd, Sweeney, and the Owens smuggled and illegally imported these emissions defeat devices from Canada into Eastern Washington and then sold and distributed them to customers throughout the U.S.
In the summer of 2020, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested information, the Owens shut down their business website and re-launched under a new name. Joshua Owens then started a new website and business name, with an address in the Cayman Islands. He continued to use the website to import, sell, and distribute illegal defeat devices, despite repeated warnings that they were illegal.
In February 2023, when a customer complained by email and threatened to report Josh Owens and his business to the EPA, he responded by email, “We have all your info. You’ll be the guy we serve up on a silver platter to the EPA if it comes down to that.”
The conspiracy charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in federal prison, while the smuggling and money laundering charges have a maximum sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment.
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