Oregon diesel repair shop sentenced to probation for tampering with vehicle emissions

The owner of a diesel repair shop in Veneta was ordered on Wednesday to pay more than $100,000 in criminal fines and was sentenced to three years of probation for intentionally tampering with pollution monitoring devices on vehicles in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Christopher Kaufman, owner of Diesel & Offroad Authority, LLC, in Veneta, was also ordered to include a disclaimer on his company's website declaring that the repair shop no longer provides "delete and tune" tampering services because they are illegal, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.

The Environmental Protection Agency defines the Clean Air Act as a federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. The law also allows the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants and protect public health and welfare.

Kaufman and Diesel & Offroad Authority were accused of tampering with and disabling the emissions control systems of at least 184 diesel vehicles. Court documents disclosed the repair shop charged its customers approximately $2,300 each for the emissions modifications and collected more than $378,000 for the services over a four-year period between 2018 and 2022.

According to the lawsuit filed on March 12, these "modifications are often marketed to diesel vehicle owners as improving the horsepower, torque, maintenance, and other characteristics of diesel engines." However, the modifications can result in a significant increase in pollutants being emitted from each vehicle, which have been allegedly shown to cause cancer, as well as lung, neurological, cardiovascular and immune system damage.

"Their actions directly contributed to the release of significant amounts of dangerous air pollutants, which leads to serious health conditions such as respiratory diseases like asthma," Lance Ehrig, special agent at the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division in Oregon, said following Wednesday's sentencing.

Kaufman pleaded guilty to the charges on April 10 and was sentenced by Oregon District Court Judge Michael McShane in a Eugene courtroom on Wednesday.

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon diesel repair shop sentenced to probation for tampering with vehicle emissions