The case centered on violations of the Clean Air Act related to illegal tampering with on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems in diesel trucks.
In a federal court ruling in Pocatello, Idaho, Barry Pierce, owner of GDP Tuning LLC and Custom Auto of Rexburg LLC, operating as Gorilla Performance, was sentenced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill imposed a four-month prison term on Pierce. Additionally, both GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance were given five years of probation. The defendants were collectively ordered to pay a $1 million fine. All parties had previously entered guilty pleas.
“The defendants knowingly and repeatedly flouted Clean Air Act regulations even after being told that this conduct was against the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The case centered on violations of the Clean Air Act related to illegal tampering with on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems in diesel trucks. The tampering involved two key processes: removing emissions control devices from vehicles, known as “deleting,” and reprogramming the OBD systems to ignore the removal through “tuning.”
OBD systems are designed to detect and report any removal or malfunction of emissions control equipment, triggering a diagnostic trouble code and potentially a “check engine” light. If unresolved, these malfunctions could force a vehicle into “limp mode,” limiting its speed. Tuning bypasses these checks, even when emissions equipment is removed.
Court documents revealed that from 2016 to 2020, Pierce, GDP Tuning, and Gorilla Diesel Performance engaged in tuning and deleting hundreds of vehicles at their Rexburg, Idaho, facility. Through various distributors, GDP Tuning sold tens of millions of dollars in tuning products nationwide, including so-called “custom tunes,” fully aware that these were used to illegally reprogram vehicles.
In 2018, Pierce disclosed to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspectors that his companies marketed kits and products for deleting and tuning trucks. Subsequent EPA investigations uncovered sales data showing over 20,000 tuning products sold for around $14 million between January 1, 2018, and August 7, 2019.
Undercover EPA agents confirmed extensive illegal activity at GDP Tuning and Gorilla Diesel Performance. Evidence indicated that the companies routinely conducted deletions and used GDP Tuning products, with multiple employees involved in these operations. Pierce was found to have been aware of and directed these illicit activities.
“Despite being warned by EPA that his conduct was illegal, Barry Pierce and his companies continued to flout the law for years, selling millions of dollars of products that defeated emissions controls on diesel trucks,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann, of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “These products resulted in thousands of tons of excess pollutants being emitted into the air, putting our most vulnerable populations at risk. This brazen behavior must stop and EPA will continue to seek jail time for violations until it does.”
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