President Donald Trump says he's pardoning the owners of a vehicle repair shop in Alaska who were accused of tampering with federally-mandated monitoring devices and removing required air pollution control equipment from dozens of vehicles.
The owners of Arm Rippin Toys, Inc., in Anchorage plead guilty in 2022 to one count of violating the Clean Air Act, according to the
Biden-era Justice Department.Trump brought two of the company's owners, Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, to the stage on Oct. 13 at his Wasilla, Alaska, rally in support of Republican candidates competing in November elections and said he was immediately pardoning the mechanics.
The president said that was also taking care of a third co-owner of the company, Michael Hanzuk,
as he signed documents provided to him by an aide.
Trump said the men were convicted "because they fixed an engine" and were facing 10 years in prison.
"The concept is that if you allow people to fix the engine, they're going to take all of the environmental crap that makes it bad, makes it inefficient, makes it expensive, that they're going to undo that. And when you undo that, you therefore send fumes into the air," Trump declared. "Well, I heard about it. I read the story about it and did a little check in, and I'm giving each one of the three an unconditional pardon."
The U.S. Attorney's office said in 2022 that the company's co-owners and employees "falsified, tampered with and rendered inaccurate" emissions monitoring devices on at least 37 vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020. Arm Rippin Toys collected some $100,000 for conducting the unlawful service on diesel vehicles.
Hanzuk and Czubak were sentenced to five years probation, community service and ordered to pay a $66,000 fine.
At the Oct. 13 rally, Czubak said thanked Trump for clearing their record and told the crowd: "It destroyed friendships. It destroyed families. We're not criminals. We're not trying to hurt anybody. We want to help Alaskans. We want to help people with diesel trucks, vehicles across the world. "
In his remarks, Trump referred to a pardon he gave another Alaskan diesel mechanic in separate emissions case in July and accused the Biden administration of "viciously targeted the Alaskan way of life."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pardons Alaskan mechanics from Biden-era emissions case
