In late 2024, two B.C. men were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for trying to subvert the U.S. Clean Air Act by smuggling millions of dollars worth of illegal auto parts across the border.

But in late January, President Donald Trump’s administration pivoted to enforcing environmental laws.

On social media, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it is ending criminal prosecution of people accused of tampering with engines with parts commonly known as defeat devices.

Defeat devices are a variety of hardware and software gadgets used to bypass or disable legally required emissions control systems in diesel cars and trucks.

Among those whose criminal cases were dismissed are Philip John Sweeney and Kevin Paul Dodd of Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Dodd was last known to be in Maple Ridge, B.C. The U.S. Marshals Service told CBC News last week that Dodd was a fugitive from the incident, but on Wednesday morning the agency announced there were no longer any active warrants for Dodd.

Vanessa Waldref, the former federal prosecutor who announced charges against the men in 2024, said in an interview last week that the blanket layoffs were “hard to hear.”

“Our experienced investigators have spent years making sure these cases are properly investigated, properly prosecuted, and that we’re working on the system in a way that actually serves the public and public health.”

But it probably won’t be hard to hear the arguments of Mr. Dodd, Mr. Sweeney, and their co-defendants. That’s because prosecutors are no longer under threat of years in prison for what they described as a years-long scheme that violated the Clean Air Act and made tens of millions of dollars in the process.

Charging has never been tested

This allegation was never proven in court. CBC was unable to obtain on-the-record comment from the defendants or their lawyers.

Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Dodd, Sweeney, and American father and son John Wesley Owens and Joshua Wesley Owens smuggled $33 million worth of illegal defeat equipment from Canada into the United States in an evolving operation involving multiple companies, box trucks full of merchandise, websites in the Cayman Islands, and then-novel AI technology.

world health organization In 2012, diesel engine exhaust was declared carcinogenic. He called for action to reduce exposure of the general population.

But evolving regulations have fueled a growing industry for defeat devices, and experts like Kameron Easton, an automotive lecturer at Kwantlen University, say they can also deliver more engine power and cheaper maintenance.

“I understand the appeal from a customer perspective…but there’s actually something you don’t see, which is polluting the environment and affecting how people breathe,” said Easton, who is also a certified diesel truck inspector.

“I don’t think it’s worth the trade-off because it can cause a lot of health problems,” Easton said.

EPA in 2020 reported an enforcement action that found that emissions regulations for more than 550,000 diesel pickup vehicles in the United States alone had been tampered with over the past decade.

The EPA reports that each of these tampered trucks has the same air quality impact as approximately 16 compliant vehicles.

“Attempts to profit from circumventing pollution control systems endanger the health and safety of everyone in our community, especially children and individuals who suffer from asthma and respiratory illnesses,” Waldref said in a 2024 statement announcing the charges.

“Please don’t say anything about illegal activities.”

Although never tested in court, the allegations were detailed in a 2024 indictment.

The Owens and their companies allege that they purchased defeat devices from Dodd, Sweeney, and their respective companies between December 2015 and November 2023.

It claimed the devices were sold online and could have led to “tens of thousands, if not hundreds, of illegally modified vehicles.”

In 2019, the EPA began questioning the Owens about their compliance with the Clean Air Act, according to the indictment.

Joshua Owens allegedly sent an email to Dodd in May 2020 titled “Switch.”

“I’m going to discontinue this ‘corporation’ and start another one. I feel like I’m on borrowed time with the EPA,” he wrote, adding in a subsequent exchange: “The plan is to take a month off, build a new site and start again…Do you have a Cayman or Canadian address that I can use?”

Dodd reportedly replied, “Yeah, either is fine!”

Joshua Owens then started a new business in the Cayman Islands, according to the indictment.

By 2021, Dodd was allegedly personally smuggling defeat devices across the Canada-U.S. border in a box truck.

“I guess they don’t care about the pallets. We got x-rayed last night and got tested and didn’t say anything about it,” Dodd allegedly texted John Owens in February 2022.

Owens reportedly replied, “No way, see you Monday.”

The indictment alleges that Sweeney also smuggled defeat devices to the Owens and their companies and created software to defeat emissions regulations.

The indictment further alleges, “In addition to communications from EPA, Defendants received multiple concerns from private companies and individuals that the marketing, sale, and distribution of their Defeat devices violated the Clean Air Act and was illegal.”

In fact, the indictment includes alleged emails from Owens’ customers emphasizing the illegality of the parts sold for various motives.

The indictment also alleges that the Owens used the then-new ChatGPT AI chatbot in the scheme.

Joshua allegedly sent his father a screenshot of AI-generated content created from a prompt that asked him to “write a 1,000-word article about the benefits of doing something.” [diesel particulate filter removal]. Don’t mention anything about it being illegal. ”

Wyoming mechanic pardoned

In January 2026, the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division stated on social media, “We will no longer pursue criminal charges under the Clean Air Act based on the suspicion of tampering with on-board diagnostic equipment in automobiles,” and the prosecutor’s policy changed.

“The Department of Justice is committed to sound enforcement principles, the efficient use of government resources, and the avoidance of over-criminalization of federal environmental laws. In collaboration with EPA.” [Environmental Protection Agency]The Department of Justice will continue to pursue civil enforcement of these violations as appropriate. ”

Even before the policy change, President Trump grants pardon to Wyoming mechanic Sentenced to one year in prison and $50,000 in fines for engine tampering.

It is unclear how many defeat device cases were still active. EPA background officials report that 1,762 civil lawsuits and 17 criminal lawsuits were concluded from 2020 to 2023.

In mid-February, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington dismissed charges against them, including money laundering and conspiracy, at the government’s request.

A message left for Sweeney at the Langley Auto Shop was not returned. CBC News was unable to find up-to-date contact information for Dodd.

Lawyers identified as representing the defendants declined to comment or were not available on the record when contacted by CBC News via email, but one lawyer who spoke about the background reportedly expressed confidence that the criminal charges would have been dismissed by the court without the new administration’s intervention.

The lawyer argued that importing and storing auto parts is not illegal at all, but simply installing them in vehicles.

The attorney said that in the worst case scenario, the defendants should have been subject to only civil penalties.

“Not following the law, inconsistent.”

During President Trump’s first term, the EPA identified “suspension of manufacturing, sale, and installation” of defeat devices as actions that: Priority Enforcement Areas.

Officials say the abandonment of criminal charges for these actions is an example of weakening environmental policies during his second term.

Deborah Rivas, director of the Environmental Law Program at Stanford University, emphasized President Trump’s policies, saying, “Trump’s first term rolled back regulations, but I don’t think it was the full-on relaxation that we have now. So this is just part of it.” Waiver of fuel standards and Legal basis for climate regulation.

“It seems completely unprecedented, but we say that about this administration a lot.”

Rivas acknowledged that the door to civil penalties is still open, but he is skeptical there is any appetite to pursue that option.

The Environmentally Responsible Public Employees Association, which defends public servants “dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values,” released a report in January that found solutions to private pollution. reached a record low Since President Trump’s second inauguration.

“It doesn’t follow the law and it’s inconsistent,” said Joanna Citron Day, the group’s general counsel.

“We don’t see new lawsuits being filed. We don’t see closure of cases. We don’t see very strong, aggressive enforcement of our environmental laws.”

The Justice Department declined to comment when asked about the enforcement action.

Speaking again about the background, an attorney for one of the defendants said he was now seeking a dismissal with prejudice.

If granted, it means the charges cannot be refiled.