An Ohio man has been sentenced to prison for violating the Clean Air Act through an aftermarket scheme that disabled the emissions control systems of diesel trucks. Davis Owens, 34, from Cleves, Hamilton County, was handed a sentence of 30 days in prison, seven months of home confinement and one year of supervised release. He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the tampering of a monitoring device required under the Clean Air Act.
Court documents reveal that Owens was the co-owner of Holderdown Performance and owner of Cincy Diesel Performance. In 2020, he entered into a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over allegations that he and Holderdown had knowingly worked to bypass or "defeat" components controlling emissions on heavy-duty diesel truck engines. Research indicates that disabling a vehicle's emissions components can result in a significant increase in pollutants - particulate matter by 40 times, nitrogen oxides by 310 times, carbon monoxide by 120 times and non-methane hydrocarbons by 1,100 times.
As part of the CAFO agreement, Owens paid a $7,500 civil penalty and agreed that neither he nor Cincy Diesel Performance would manufacture, sell or install defeat devices. However, investigations revealed that Owens and Cincy Diesel Performance continued to sell and install defeat devices as well as emissions deleting computer software until February 2022.
The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. The case was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Enforcement Division and the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman from the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case.