Diesel performance parts retailers GDP Tuning LLC and Custom Auto of Rexburg LLC, operating as Gorilla Performance, along with owner Barry Pierce, were sentenced today in federal court in Pocatello, Idaho. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill for the District of Idaho sentenced Pierce to four months in prison. GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance received five years of probation. All defendants were ordered to jointly pay a $1 million fine. The companies and Pierce had previously pleaded guilty.
The charges pertain to illegal tampering with monitoring devices required under the Clean Air Act, specifically the on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems in diesel trucks. The tampering process involves physically removing emissions control devices, known as “deleting” a truck, and using computer software to reprogram or tune the vehicle’s OBD to not recognize this removal, referred to as “tuning.”
An OBD system normally detects any removal or malfunction of a vehicle’s emissions control equipment, recording a diagnostic trouble code and triggering a vehicle’s “check engine” light. If unaddressed, a vehicle can be forced into “limp mode,” limiting its speed to five miles per hour. Tuning bypasses these checks even when the emissions control equipment is removed.
Court documents indicate that from approximately 2016 to 2020, Pierce and GDP Tuning and Gorilla Diesel Performance tuned and deleted hundreds of vehicles at the Gorilla Diesel Performance auto repair shop in Rexburg, Idaho. Through various distributors, GDP Tuning sold tens of millions of dollars’ worth of tunes, tuners, and equipment nationwide, including what it described as “custom tunes.” GDP Tuning was aware that these tunes were used for illegal reprogramming.
In 2018, Pierce informed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspectors that his companies sold kits for deleting trucks and products for tuning them. Subsequent EPA follow-ups revealed that GDP Tuning sold over 20,000 tuning products generating approximately $14 million in revenue from January 1, 2018, through August 7, 2019.
EPA law enforcement agents conducted undercover operations at GDP Tuning and Gorilla Diesel Performance to determine the extent of illegal activities. Employees informed an undercover agent that trucks were routinely deleted at Gorilla Diesel Performance's location. Evidence showed hundreds of deletes performed using GDP Tuning products by at least seven employees under Pierce's direction.
“The defendants knowingly and repeatedly flouted Clean Air Act regulations even after being told that this conduct was against the law,” stated Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We are committed to enforcing the law and holding individuals and businesses accountable.”
“Despite being warned by EPA that his conduct was illegal, Barry Pierce and his companies continued to flout the law for years," 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."
“Protecting Idaho’s environment and promoting public health are top priorities for my office," said U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho.
The EPA investigated the case.
Senior Trial Attorney Cassandra Barnum of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section; U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho; and EPA Regional Criminal Enforcement Counsel Karla Perrin prosecuted it.