Kyle Offringa, Conspiracy to Violate Clean Air Act, New York 2019

Kyle Offringa, Michigan Man, Indicted for Clean Air Act Conspiracy

ALBANY, NEW YORK – A Michigan man and his company have been charged with conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act in a grand jury indictment unsealed in the Northern District of New York.

Kyle Offringa, 33, of Caledonia, Michigan, and his company, Highway and Heavy Parts, LLC, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, a crime that carries a maximum term of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.

According to the indictment, Offringa and his company conspired with a diesel truck operator in Fultonville, New York, and others, to remove, delete and tamper with monitoring devices on heavy-duty diesel trucks required to be maintained by the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations.

The charges alleged that truck operators deleted the emissions control hardware on their heavy-duty diesel trucks, which significantly increased pollution emitted by those trucks but allowed them to run at higher horsepower, with greater fuel efficiency, and with reduced maintenance cost.

HHP charged its customers a fee for the services of Offringa, who reprogrammed the OBDs on vehicles so they would not detect that the components had been tampered with. HHP was paid between $1,250 and $1,750 for each truck reprogrammed by Offringa – who then received a substantial portion of that payment from HHP.

The charge against Offringa carries a maximum term of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. The charge against HHP carries a fine of up to $500,000 and a term of probation of up to 5 years.

Offringa is scheduled to be arraigned on May 15, while HHP was arraigned on Friday before United States Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel. Two alleged coconspirators, Patrick Oare and DAIM Logistics, Inc. of Fultonville, previously pled guilty to violating the Clean Air Act and are scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino in Albany on June 21, 2024.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/michigan-resident-and-heavy-duty-diesel-parts-supplier-indicted-conspiracy-violate