The federal government of the United States has made its stance clear: disregard the Clean Air Act, and you will face significant consequences. Diesel truck tuners have experienced this reality firsthand over the past three years, incurring hefty criminal fines and civil penalties, often reaching seven figures. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) imposed a staggering $10 million penalty on a North Carolina aftermarket shop.
Earlier this week, the DOJ released a press statement identifying Rudy’s Performance Parts and its owner Aaron Rudolf for manufacturing, selling, and installing emissions defeat devices. Rudy’s has pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Tuesday, September 10, to pay $2.4 million in criminal fines for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. This follows a previous ruling in April in which Rudolf was fined $600,000 and placed on a three-year organizational probation.
The largest fine stemmed from a civil lawsuit initiated by the federal government on behalf of the EPA against Rudy’s and Rudolf. This action was due to the defendants’ distribution of defeat devices and their inadequate responses to official EPA requests for information. This resulted in a $7 million consent decree filed on July 29.
“For far too long, companies like Rudy’s have employed illegal defeat devices to bypass the Clean Air Act’s public health protections, negatively impacting communities across the nation,” stated David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s announcement shows that the EPA will staunchly pursue criminal and civil penalties until this blatant violation ceases.”
Without a doubt, the $10 million fine is substantial. It marks the largest financial penalty I’ve encountered concerning independent diesel shops. However, DOJ and EPA findings indicate that Rudy’s earned tens of millions in revenue solely from the sale of software tuning devices, revealing the immense financial stakes involved at every level of this situation.
Court documents reveal that Rudy’s top-selling product was the Mini-Maxx tuner, which was produced by an unnamed entity designated as “Company A.” Rudy’s also sold XRT Pro tuners, manufactured by the same Company A. Notably, H&S Performance, another aftermarket manufacturer, faced penalties for Clean Air Act violations with similar products. According to the DOJ’s press release, after Company A ceased production of the Mini-Maxx and XRT Pro, Rudy’s conspired to create counterfeit tuners that were falsely branded. This collaboration began with a software technician and lasted from July 2015 until December 2016.
Rudy’s subsequently started to produce these fake tuners in-house, which required the purchase of an $850,000 laptop containing the necessary software to convert existing tuners into Mini-Maxxes and XRT Pros. Between the inception of this operation and its conclusion in July 2018, Rudy’s sold roughly 44,000 imitation tuners, generating approximately $33 million in revenue, according to DOJ reports.
Moving forward, the consent decree mandates that Rudy’s and Rudolf cease all technical support for the defeat devices, reject warranty claims, and guide authorized dealers to do the same, among other requirements. There will be no sale or transfer of any intellectual property related to the defeat devices, and any marketing materials must remove references to emissions control tampering. Furthermore, any leftover aftermarket defeat devices in Rudy’s and Rudolf’s possession must be forfeited.
This case illustrates that as long as the EPA and DOJ have the current administration’s support, they will persist in imposing significant fines and penalties on violators of the Clean Air Act.
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