Diesel Tuner Sentenced for Ignoring EPA

A North Carolina truck tuner was sentenced to a year in prison for violating the Clean Air Act and selling thousands of emissions control system defeat devices from 2008 to 2017, according to a report from MarketWatch.

In addition to the prison term, Matthew Sidney Geouge, 35, of Hendersonville, North Carolina, was also ordered to pay $1.3 million in fines to the EPA, and $1.2 million in back taxes and penalties.

According to the report, Geouge sold around 14,000 kits through his company, Spartan Diesel Technologies, and took in around $10 million in sales.

In 2015, the EPA issued a citation to Geouge ordering him to stop selling the devices, which prosecutors say he ignored. In 2017 the EPA levied Geouge with a $4 million fine, after which he sold Spartan to another company.

Click here to read the full report.

By A.J. Hecht

A.J. Hecht is the managing editor of THE SHOP and host of the In Gear with THE SHOP podcast. Have an idea, a tip, or a question you’d like to see answered? Contact A.J. at ahecht@cahabamedia.com.