President Donald Trump pardons nine people convicted in federal diesel emissions cases tied to Clean Air Act violations

President Donald Trump announced he has pardoned nine people convicted of violating the Clean Air Act in cases involving alleged tampering with diesel engines’ emissions-control systems, according to reporting from Fox News and CBS News on July 3 and July 4. Trump said the men were “persecuted by the Biden Administration” and punished for “fixing their car.”

The pardons, as described by the outlets, stem from federal prosecutions in which defendants were convicted for installing or selling equipment that allegedly bypassed emissions monitoring and suppressed diagnostic warnings on diesel trucks. In at least one reported account, prosecutors argued the devices reduced or removed enforcement of federally required emissions controls, which can affect whether vehicles comply with pollution-control requirements.

On Friday, CBS News reported that the White House did not immediately provide the list of names of the six defendants Trump announced in early public remarks, but lawyers and a White House official later identified the individuals to CBS. Those names included Ryan and Wade Lalone, Matt Geouge, Tim Clancy and Mac Spurlock, with CBS reporting that five others were also pardoned in connection with similar pollution violations.

CBS News further reported that, after Trump announced the pardons, a White House official later confirmed additional clemency names including Joshua Davis, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf, Adam Kidan, Jack Harvard and Jonathan Achtemeier, describing them as part of the broader set of pardons connected to the diesel emissions cases.

Fox News reported that eight of the people pardoned were described in that review of federal court records as diesel mechanics or car tuners prosecuted for selling and installing “defeat devices.” Fox also reported at least one specific case detail, that an Alaska veteran named Mac Spurlock was among those freed after federal agents raided his shop over engine modifications, as described by the reporting.

The clemency announcements arrive amid ongoing federal enforcement of vehicle emissions rules. Under U.S. law, a presidential pardon generally removes criminal penalties for the offenses covered by the grant, while leaving the underlying court records and findings in place. The practical effect is that those pardoned cannot be punished under the covered convictions, though they may still face collateral legal and administrative issues depending on how cases were adjudicated.

The Biden administration’s role in the reported prosecutions and the Trump administration’s stated rationale were central to the clemency messaging, but the underlying legal basis for the original convictions, and the specific scope of each pardon, were not fully detailed in the reporting. As of the publication of the cited reports, the outlets described the pardons as targeting convictions for Clean Air Act violations tied to emissions-control tampering on diesel vehicles. A fuller record would depend on the official pardon documents or lists as issued by the Office of the Pardon Attorney and the White House.