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Term
EPA
EPA is the U.S. government agency that sets and enforces pollution rules. For diesel trucks, they can look into whether a truck or business is breaking emissions laws.
Term
subpoena
A subpoena is a court/legal order that forces someone to hand over information or show up. Here, it’s being used as part of a government investigation.
Concept
limbo
“In limbo” means things are on hold and nothing is decided yet. He’s saying the situation kept him from moving forward for a long time.
Term
diesel business
“Diesel business” here refers to a commercial operation centered on diesel trucks—likely related to servicing, parts, or compliance work. The key point is that the legal pressure disrupted his ability to keep operating in that diesel-focused niche.
Term
semis
“Semis” is shorthand for semi-trucks (tractor-trailers) used in long-haul freight. They’re a major segment for diesel emissions regulation and enforcement because of their high mileage and heavy-duty engines.
Term
oversize trucking
Oversize trucking refers to hauling loads that exceed standard size/weight limits, which typically triggers special permitting and routing rules. For diesel fleets, that can change operating patterns and compliance requirements.
Term
diesel fuel
Diesel fuel is what powers diesel engines. The type/quality of the fuel can affect how hard the engine’s fuel parts have to work and how quickly they wear out.
Term
lack of lubricity
Lubricity is how well diesel fuel “lubricates” the engine’s fuel parts. If the fuel doesn’t lubricate well, those parts can wear out faster and cause expensive problems.
Company
Hot Shot's Secret
Hot Shots Secrets is a company that sells aftermarket products like fuel additives. Here, they’re being credited with a diesel additive meant to help protect the fuel system.
Brand
hot shots edt
Hot Shots EDT is a specific additive you put into diesel fuel. The claim is that it helps keep the fuel system clean and improves how well the fuel protects the engine.
Term
six-in-one formula
“Six-in-one formula” means the additive is supposed to do several jobs at once. Here, they say it cleans injectors and improves fuel properties like lubricity and cetane.
Term
C-tane
C-tane refers to cetane, which is a measure of how easily diesel fuel lights off in the engine. Better cetane can mean easier starts and smoother running.
Term
injectors
Injectors are the parts that spray diesel fuel into the engine. If they get dirty or wear out, the engine can run worse and repairs can get expensive.
Term
chip
A “chip” here means a device or software change that makes the diesel engine run differently. Some chips can change fueling in a way that may increase pollution, which is why they can get you in trouble.
Term
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act is a U.S. law that sets rules for limiting air pollution. If you modify a diesel truck, those rules can determine what’s allowed and what could lead to fines or enforcement.
Term
parts would have to be tested
The speaker is saying some aftermarket parts may need emissions testing before they’re considered acceptable. The goal is to prove the change doesn’t make pollution worse.
Term
fines
Here, “fines” means money penalties the government can charge if a diesel modification violates emissions rules. The warning is that enforcement can come years later.
Term
emissions
“Emissions” means the pollution coming out of the truck’s exhaust. The concern is whether a modification makes that pollution worse.
Term
CARB number
A “CARB number” is an approval code from California that shows an emissions-related modification is allowed. Diesel owners use it to check whether a part or tune is compliant with pollution rules.
Concept
AG side
“AG side” refers to the agricultural use case—farm equipment and work vehicles used for livelihood rather than commuting. The key idea is that diesel emissions/aftertreatment problems hit harder when the vehicle is needed in remote locations and downtime directly affects work.
Term
power stroke
“Power Stroke” is Ford’s line of diesel engines. It’s the engine in a lot of Ford diesel trucks, and when owners talk about problems, they’re often talking about how the truck’s emissions system runs and cleans itself.
Brand
Duramax
Duramax is GM’s diesel engine used in some Chevy and GMC trucks. People bring it up because the diesel emissions system and how it cleans itself can affect reliability and downtime.
Brand
Cummins
Cummins makes diesel engines used in some Ram trucks. When owners talk about Cummins problems, they’re usually talking about how the emissions system and diesel controls work in real life.
Term
after treatment system
They’re talking about the truck’s emissions-cleaning system that works after the exhaust leaves the engine. If that system has a problem, the truck can act up or limit power, which is especially painful when you rely on the truck for work.
Term
decelentions
This sounds like they mean “decelerations,” basically slowing down. On a diesel truck, slowing down can change exhaust conditions, which can affect how the emissions system responds.
LIVE
Welcome to the diesel podcast presented by DFC diesel.
John, welcome to the diesel podcast.
I appreciate your time today, chatting with me.
And I look forward to hearing your story
about your experience in diesel, the recent pardon.
I know that the news broke, it was huge.
I'm sure you're getting tons of requests
to talk to different media and things like that out there.
So I appreciate you taking the time
to chat with the diesel podcast and myself.
Yes, thanks for having me, man.
Tell me a bit about your story.
I'm not familiar with it other than a few things
that I read when it came out,
but I was really curious like how it started for you.
And then we go through kind of how it progressed
and then lead up to July 3rd and July 4th.
So I mean, my legal endeavor began late December of 22,
November, December 22, I was out of my shop
and then just random car pulled up my driveway,
turned around, faced its way out.
Three people got out and I'm like watching my camera
like, all right, who's this?
Like I live in a real, real area,
so it's not just a place where cars end up.
And as I was walking towards her,
she's hopes up her little, opened up her kind of jacket
and say, you know, how can I help?
She's like, oh, so and so with the EPA,
I'm like, oh, this is cool, you know?
So I kind of just, we just kind of stood right
where we were talking and there was a guy
who had a camera so I could tell, you know,
so it could all be recorded.
And as soon as she started talking, I was like,
well, I think I see you get all my attorney, you know?
And then she just kept pushing me
and pushing me to answer questions.
She's like, well, why you get a hold of him?
Can you answer these questions?
I'm like, no, like part of me wanting my attorney
is because you didn't come here to be my friend.
Like you didn't bring coffee and donuts
and we're not gonna hang out.
You flew here all the way to New Jersey
from Washington state because you obviously have
something you're trying to do.
And about that time, my attorney called
and you know, it's a good friend of mine
and he says, what's going on, John?
I said, oh, I have some lovely EPA sitting in my driveway
with me.
He's like, well, tell him to hand you the subpoena
and tell him to get off your property.
And I mean, the look on her face,
she reached into her thing, handed me the subpoena
and he's like, call me in five minutes when they're gone.
And that kind of ended my, that ended my like dialogue
with them was real brief, you know?
I didn't have big back and forth on.
And then from there, you know, it was just to
go through all, you know, go through all the little things
they wanted and I said, my buddy's a Fed attorney
and you kind of knew what eyes to dot, teased across.
They didn't really get a lot for me.
You know, they got all the invoices and bank statements
of stuff that they had already had.
So, yeah, really like I said, my,
experiences with, with the actual agents wasn't much, you know?
So I kind of just sat and for about two years in limbo
at that minute, I just quit doing everything
by diesel business and when bots and semis started doing
oversize, you know, trucking, just sat there
and played their witty game to help them.
And with, with your business, like when they showed up,
you mentioned your driveway, was it like at your home
that they showed up and, and then also with your business,
was it like in diesel, did you do like installs and stuff?
Or was it like e-commerce and part sales or a little bit,
little both?
So I did a lot of, I mean, obviously I did deleting
because, you know, I was first charged with that,
but my main business was semis and tractors.
I did a lot of remote help as well.
But like at the end of this, like they couldn't even put
a number to what my sales versus versus deleting
or run or regular work was because they just couldn't
figure out what was what.
And I got a lot of guys that would call and, you know,
great mechanics, just that computer destroys, you know,
they can't figure out the computer stuff, you know.
So I remote in and help them do a lot of that.
And then obviously when you'd find certain things,
you would just, you know, take care of it, you know.
But you know, you're talking guys that sit out the middle
of the field with their tractor, you know,
got a crop they got to do or, or a cattle hauler
on the side of the road with a load of cows,
just randomly like, what do I do at home?
Yeah.
And with that weight, I'm sure, I'm sure with the,
like them showing up, it's a major, a major thing, right?
Cause it doesn't happen like every day.
And you're probably like thinking, well, what happens next?
And, and-
It's not like the UPS man showing up to driveway
dropping off a package.
It was, her package was very weighted.
Did, like, what was the stress like that?
The stress with it, you know, just kind of waiting
or, you know, that two years in between,
was it a seamless process of, okay, we want this
and then you go through it with your, with your lawyer
or, cause I've had other guests on to talk about this
and some of them had huge gaps where they didn't hear anything.
And so they just kind of wondered,
is anything progressing or?
So that's kind of how mine was.
For me, it was like, no news is good news, you know.
I really didn't do a lot of it.
I flew out to Los, I had to fly out to Los Angeles
because that's where my attorney's out of
and hang out with him.
And pretty much we just spent two days of
going through their list and here's what they get.
Here's what we're not going to give you a redact
and anybody's, you know, stuff or, you know,
oh, again, like I said, it was just, it's just a waiting game.
Like how do you progress in life
when you don't know what you're going to do?
And like I said, I completely just shut that
whole business downs cause I was like,
I don't want them to,
they're already having a hard time distinguishing stuff.
So I don't want to be helping somebody legit
and then continue to compile on my case, you know.
So you just, you kind of, your life gets put off old,
you know, like you can't really make any big life decisions
cause you don't know what's going to happen.
You know, are you going to uptake everything I own?
Are you going to, so you don't want to build any more wealth
cause you don't want more money for them to take away.
And like, are you going to take my liberty,
which they did to me.
I mean, I went to federal prison and then it was just,
like I said, it was just a big waiting game.
I didn't have to do a lot of back and forth with them.
There was no talking.
And then I was at the, I remember I was at the doctor
pulling in the doctor, my attorney called me goes,
well, we just got the email that we were expecting.
It was a 11, 11 count indictment.
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I was gonna ask you about that next,
because we've heard stories on the podcast
about civil fines and that side of it,
but then also how it would go criminal
and that side of it.
So can you walk me through what that was like
when you got the email and your lawyer talked to you
and how that progressed?
So just touch the civil thing.
I had already went through their whole civil investigation
and they essentially had given me a clean bill of health,
just the way, I don't know how,
but they just gave me a clean bill of health.
And this was two months after we got that,
all right, we're good, we're satisfied.
We really can't tell what you're doing,
because you're not the greatest bookkeeper in the world,
which I guess you can't get in trouble
for being a bad bookkeeper
as long as you do the books, right?
And then two months later, when all this started happening,
but yeah, you kind of expect it to be coming,
but then yeah, when you get that call
that there's a document that says,
United States of America versus, it kind of hits hard.
You know, that's a pretty big way to take.
And then you think about your family,
what we've been through already,
just the stress, what are we gonna do?
What are we gonna, you know,
and then what's gonna happen?
Yeah.
Well, with that side of it, was it,
like with your attorney in the process of it,
was it something where you looked at it and said,
yeah, it's gonna cost X amount of money
to be able to fight this, I don't have it,
and plead through it, or was it something that went to,
like progress further along in the court proceedings,
or how did that side?
So mine went, we were gonna fight it,
like I said, my attorney was one of my friends,
so I was fortunate that I didn't have a ton of legal bills,
except for, you know, like expenses and stuff like that.
So I mean, he was kind of happy, he wanted to fight it,
but at the end of the day,
you look at the conviction rate of the US Cup, you know,
and you've got a company that got in trouble,
they were the ones being investigated,
and when the EPA came there,
they basically set me up, it was almost like in drug terms,
it was a controlled buy, you know?
Here, this is here, this is failed,
this truck needs to go, it's got, you know,
it's got a load of produce on it, can we get it done?
Did it?
You know, right there, you're pretty much,
how do you fight that?
You know, you can fight your beliefs, your thoughts,
and you're, you know, your interpretation of how the law is,
but at that time, the interpretation was not the way
that it's being interpreted now at all.
So it was, you know, and then they used a case,
they're like, we just want to cut,
and I was on the Western District of Washington,
she literally sent me an email that I kind of laughed at now
because same case they used against me saying,
hey, we just handily want this, you know,
at a jury trial, it took the jury 30 minutes to come back.
That's a case that on appeal,
they had to admit that they should not charge them
and they ended up dismissing the person charges, you know,
so like, but after getting that, we kind of just waited,
the deal they gave us, the offer they gave us,
was manageable, you know?
And fortunately, the judge actually gave me less time
than the PSR, than the PSR requested
and what the EPA was wanting against me,
but time's still time, man.
How much, what time did they want to give you?
They wanted to give me a year, like 12 to 18 months
is what they wanted to give me, $100,000 fine.
The PSR recommended like a $10,000 fine in six months
and the judge ultimately gave me four months
with a $25,000 fine.
So I mean, I just put it as a one.
I want to ask you about that,
but you mentioned something that I wanted to touch on
because I don't think I've had a guest tell me this before.
So in the process of your case,
somebody, when he said it was like a controlled buy,
so somebody called in and said,
hey, I've got this vehicle that's down
and it was them approaching you for a service
or a part or something that took place.
Yeah, yeah, so Eminem Transport out of Washington,
they had their big trucking company,
they, when they'd have trucks go down, you know,
we just already had an agreement, you know, how to go.
And a lot of these guys, you don't really talk to them
because they understand what's happening.
We all just kind of, you don't have to,
well, babysit, walk me to stuff.
He texted me, hey, I've got a truck down,
send me the information.
I got into what I needed to do to get the truck going
and then go and say it's done
and then, you know, send them an invoice.
And yeah, that was States exhibit, hey, you know.
Well, we got set up and then they went as farther,
like right after that, like I had a buddy up there
that heard kind of what was going on
because that's not an area, obviously from the East Coast
or on the East Coast, it's on the West Coast,
it's happening.
And he's like, man, there's stuff going on up here, you know,
and right after that, the guy from Eminem,
after he's already done a control by essentially on me,
calls me, he's like, hey, man, the fence is just here,
what's up?
And like, I've already know that he's already sent me out,
you know, it's like, all right, dude, come on.
So it was just a real weird experience, you know,
except it should be like a drug dealer,
all the, you know, you see the, all their evidence
where they got these telescopic lenses, you know,
taking pictures of these trucks, exhausted fences,
stuff, it was a real weird experience.
They just feel kind of dirty, you know what I mean?
Like, like you were just some creep.
Now, when you had the four months and the fine,
I'm really curious about like personally,
how you felt with that because in like conversations
that I've had with you the little bit that I've read,
like we've just kind of talked about vehicles,
or it's about diesel, and we never really think that
automotive or engines lead to that, right?
And that's part of what I want to highlight for you.
I might be getting a fine or something out of this, you know,
you kind of take that gamble at the educated risk.
Yeah, you're right, you're never like,
hey, I'm like, go stay in club fed for, you know,
like some people over a year, you know?
I think part of telling your story
or the part that I hope that our audience listens to
with this is like, I'm not sure the right words to use for it,
but I feel like as a truck enthusiast,
if I look at it that way,
all this stuff seems really detached and really far off,
and we might see, you know,
something on one of the big news networks
or something like that, but for you and others
I've talked to like you, it's extremely personal.
It affects you, it affects your family,
and it's just entirely different.
So what was it like, you know, after, you know,
they say, okay, it's gonna be four months and this fine,
and now you personally, you have to go somewhere.
Like can you walk me through what that was like?
So I hate to say it was a relief, you know what I mean?
Because you're in your head, you're prepared for,
because you've already taken a deal, right?
And like the judge, my attorney says,
that's what the EPA or the AUSA recommends,
what the PSR lady recommends, it's just a suggestion.
That judge could, you know, say, I'm not cool with this,
you know, you're gonna do 23 years, you know?
Is that gonna happen?
No, because, you know, so in this time,
I'd put my house up for sale, you know,
because you're like, I'm just gonna sell my house,
take my equity and buy some, you know,
out in Indiana, we actually moved to Indianapolis
for a year, rented a place where it was for sale.
So like I said, when I got that four months,
it was kind of a relief because we loved our house,
loved our property, we loved a great place for our horses.
And like four months as I got it,
you know, it could have been worse, you know?
And then we just decided to move back home,
actually get life back up, you know,
you could float four months,
you can't float a year and a half, you know?
So it was like, I hate to say it,
but it was kind of a relief to only get that four months.
No one, you're gonna do three months on the four months,
you know?
Luckily, I had a lot of people that kind of helped support
while I was gone, my wife was amazing,
took care of everything while I was gone,
without one gripe.
When you-
So like I said, in a weird way,
that four months was almost a relief.
And when you were done with those four months,
like what is it like, okay, you've done it,
the chapter's behind you kind of in a way, right?
Right, what do you do next?
You get out, you fight the next battle,
the supervised release battle, you know?
Check in once a month, give UA's like you're just,
you know, so, you know, give them UA's, check in.
Like I live right on the border of PA in Jersey,
about the middle of nowhere.
So we go into PA, it's where my doctors are,
that's where I go grocery shopping,
that's where I go get my parts,
that's pretty much where I gotta be,
that's 15 minutes for me.
And to be told that for the first 90 days,
you can't leave the state.
So now I'm gonna change all that,
now you're going 40, you're having to go 45 minutes now,
the other way, just to stay within the state,
to do something, it's like,
this makes no sense, you know?
My trucking company's offered because couldn't leave, you know?
I planned on being gone for months,
to have that set up, now I can't leave, you know?
Also, the supervised release part,
you know, that took another toll on us,
but after that 90 days, it kind of loosened up,
and my PA was pretty decent about me going places,
but with damage done, you've lost all the relationships,
you've lost all those contacts, you know?
When did the possibility, or idea of a pardon,
enter into the mix for you?
Once I got sentenced, I started working,
I filed my part of my clemency appeal, you know?
I just, I've made it a second job, you know?
Every day, I dedicate an hour to my clemency,
I, you know, anytime a new policy,
anytime a new something would come out, or another case,
I would just email the pardon attorney,
just kept shoving it down, you know?
And then with all these shifts of policy,
it actually gave me a lot of fuel, you know?
So, I just kept hammering on it, kept emailing,
kept mailing all the state representatives,
in my state, and then, obviously, you know,
I owned a home in New Jersey,
and I was living in Indiana prior to this,
so I was hit in both sides,
where I'd be hit in Congressman in New Jersey,
I'd be hit in Congressman in Indiana, you know?
So, I just, like I've made it a second job
to fight for my own self, and I'll fight for my freedom.
And did you find any traction with politicians
in either state or any that you contacted?
Not really.
Ironically, Andy Kim's office,
that's the only one that really responded back to me,
and they kind of, they did put in some questions
of the pardon attorney, you know?
Yeah, you've pretty much got a reply,
thanks for your email.
You know, that's about it.
And you did this, like, all yourself,
like, as far as the process, you took it?
Was that, I bet that was daunting, right?
Because, like, you never think, like,
where do you even start with that?
Like, there's no, like, handbook, really,
that I've ever come across.
Yeah, you just go on the website,
you download the application, and you have to fill it out,
you know, I mean, you just,
except you make it a second job,
I just, I spent, I don't know how many hours
I spent in my office, just trying to, you know,
fight for your life, freedom,
fight for your family's life, you know?
There's not that give up in you, you know?
You're like, I'm not gonna just take this prison sentence
and this loss of liberty and stuff laying down,
I'm gonna do anything I can, you know?
You're like, am I gonna get a part?
Probably not, who thinks they're gonna get one?
There's how many people that are a partner?
Well, I said, for various other things,
and we're like, I'm gonna be the best damn denial
that was there, though, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
And then when I got out of prison,
they administratively closed my part in
because I had completed my sentence.
So then I had to reopen it because, you know,
being under your supervised release,
you're still the liberty, you need deprivation of liberty.
So they actually opened it back up,
merged it back together, so I kinda had to start over again
right after I got out.
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So never discouraging through the process
because I bet there's probably not a lot of feedback
that you get or were you just determined
that every week or every a couple of days,
every day even, I'm gonna keep sending.
Well, sometimes I'd send updates
to the partner attorney like twice a day.
Like if I'd get down to something
and then I'd find something else,
emails are free, right?
Like shoot another one.
I mean, I've got to have an email book
and they're like this, you know?
What was it like when you got word
that all that work and all that correspondence
had gone somewhere?
It's kind of crazy.
I mean, you're like, you get a phone call
and I look at the phone.
I just come up from taking care of the horses.
It's hot, buggy.
You're just irritated at life right now, you know?
You just sit down on the couch,
hanging out with my dogs, come hang out with me
and my phone rings and I'm like,
here's another spam call.
Like you almost get ready to hit the client.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm just gonna be that special guy.
I'm just gonna play with this one, you know?
And the answer like, hello?
He's like, this Jonathan, Jonathan Ockman?
I'm like, yes it is.
How can I help you, man?
And he's like, hey, this is Johnny with the White House,
you know, the White House.
I'm like, hey, no way.
Come on, man.
He's like, no, this is for real.
I'm like, well, I mean, how can I help you?
And he's like, you know, President Trump just signed your card.
I'm like, come on, man, don't lie to me like that.
Now we're getting, now this is a cruel joke.
This is a cruel spam call, you know?
And he's like, if you want to stay on the line,
I can email you a copy of it.
So he emails me a copy, but I look it up
and I'm looking at the email address.
I googled email address to make sure
that that's where it's supposed to be from.
And I was like, man.
Tell Trump to help President Trump.
Thank you, man.
That's the, I can't believe it, but, you know.
I go, yeah.
Since, you know, the part of the attorney
will get ahold of the other small stuff
they need to do with here, but yeah, you're done.
What was the first thing you did after you got that call?
So I called my wife, who was actually visiting
one of our kids and we always joke with each other
on the phone, you know, like, to make all these bird jokes,
you know, I'm like, you know, honey,
I just got a call from the White House.
I got parts like, okay, like we're busy right now.
Like, no, like for real, check your email, check your text,
you know, she's like, come on, same thing, like you're lying.
You're lying, I'm like, it's true.
So then I emailed, the next thing I did was,
I texted my PO and I sent him an email before I literally
just forwarded that email.
So it was, you know, we could see it all.
I was like, it's gone apart from the White House,
it's all, the text back was literally, wait, what, how?
Like, you know, we've been talking about this,
this should have never been a criminal thing, you know.
And luckily, President Trump, this administration,
and there was like, you know, a lot of people that fought
for him all this, Troy Lake and this, you know,
a lot of people that have put a lot of sweat, tears into this,
have helped put it where it's at.
And I said, it is what it is, man.
He goes, well, I messaged my body, he goes,
I've never had this happen to me.
So I just, that's my boss, I don't know what to do.
I said, I'm pretty sure it's spelled out
that he just, just closed my case.
I thanked him for being a decent human being,
because he was, you know, in the grand scheme of things,
he had a job to do, he was pretty cool.
That was it, but then I messaged him a couple other days later,
I was like, hey, like, is there anything I need to do?
Like, do you need me to come sign something,
whatever you saw, man?
No, you're good, I Googled your name,
I saw the article, and that was,
that was evidence of that for me.
Your stuff's closed, you're, you're completely dull, too.
I mean, that's fine, it smells good.
I think, I think that's been one of the,
one of the big things with it,
I've been curious about it, it's like,
once the president signs that, it, like,
everything's just, everything just stops,
and it's just dull.
Yeah, I mean, there's still a little legwork,
like I just, I had, I just said, I actually literally,
I just said some stuff, because,
why is it on the western edition of Washington,
when I'm being supervised out of New Jersey?
So I've got, my judge over there is, you know,
this in control of actually the case,
and I have a judge over here,
and an AEOC that's charged with my supervision,
so I just wanted a clean break,
so I'd send in a bunch of paperwork,
send them, you know, hey,
they don't want this on the docket, you know,
I went to the financial,
I messaged the financial people in Washington,
and she was the first person to respond back to me,
like first thing in the morning,
and she's like, well, here's your statement.
When I came in this morning, where you have a fine,
and she goes, my major adjustment,
here's your statement, it's at Siri.
So it's just, I mean, you probably don't have to,
but after all that work,
I'm gonna make sure it's in writing with them too,
like I got a piece of paper,
but I want the courts to,
got a vindication, you know?
Right, yeah, with the long process it was,
and what you went through,
and everything like that,
I'm sure dotting the I's crossed in the T's,
and just getting everything is extremely important.
Another hour or two of your time is well worth it.
Just to have a more, you know,
now you got that pardon, but just to have something from that,
I won't let you know what the ASUA acknowledge
that they were wrong, you know what I mean?
That's kind of my biggest thing.
That they were so condescending about the whole situation,
that, you know, how horrible you were,
and you know, you were just this,
the scum of the earth,
it was just out there purposely killing people, basically,
like it's about lack of other words,
they're saying you're out there poisoning the whole country.
You know what I'm gonna like?
With something I'm curious about is,
you know, a lot of times with this topic
I found over the years is,
I think it wasn't taken seriously for a really long time,
and like every now and then I have a lawyer on
who represents clients against EPA with these very things,
and he's talked about the civil side,
and then when it went criminal and what it's can do,
and new things that happen,
and I feel like from the truck enthusiast side,
I think people just never really took it seriously,
didn't know it was an issue,
and so I've always really tried to have people like yourself
on to be able to tell their stories about this,
like what would you,
what would you want the average diesel enthusiast to know,
like about this process about parts,
about tuning, anything related to diesel
that they just might not know,
but you went through it,
that's why I think you're so important to say this,
is you went through this whole process,
it's not me as a commentator,
or someone else as a commentator giving our opinion.
I mean, the biggest thing is that the shifts,
and it's not like it's still nothing,
do what you wanna do, I don't know about your dad,
you know what I mean,
this doesn't mean it's legal yet,
there's a big fight still,
and that's where everybody needs to,
if they want to have any,
want this to go anywhere,
people are gonna quit, post it online,
and you know this,
it's gonna be an ass,
you know, what wouldn't the negative side of it out there,
would flaunt in it,
like it's something that's not,
and you think you're cool,
and you think you're untauchable,
and when you get that knocked on the door,
your life changes forever,
your bank account changes forever,
your everything changes forever,
like just tone it down,
we're getting traction,
and then, there's always those rules out there,
because of the few that wanna just be loud, obnoxious,
just make stuff that's not,
clickbait dudes that wanna sit here
and tell you it's stuff's legal,
go ahead and do it,
Trump said it's good to go,
I paid it, it's not, it's still,
it may not be criminal right now,
but as quick as they decriminalized it,
somebody else with a different thought process
can recriminalize it,
and that's actually limitation to this five years,
so even if it's legal now,
and the next administration comes in
before we get stuff changed,
they come in, they can come back five years,
and get you for the stuff you thought was okay to do,
you know, just chip, it's kind of my message,
let's get this process,
let's not hurt ourself in them,
and further in this, let's not hurt ourself, you know?
I think that's an excellent point that you just made is,
and you know, like rightfully so,
I think like when we're diesel enthusiasts,
we're not necessarily constitutional scholars,
or experts on the political process,
or the Clean Air Act, or any of that stuff.
I don't even know my local town of laws,
you know what I mean?
You know, but I think how quickly it can change,
and it seemed like it did,
like I said from just covering this over the years,
it'd be fines or parts would have to be tested first,
or they'd need a carb number,
or go through different entities
to prove it didn't increase emissions,
and like that was a conversation,
but then it feels like within a year,
couple years, I was starting to hear like,
there's criminal charges,
or I had one guy on,
I think he did six months in federal prison for stuff,
and that was shocking,
and I think that's important,
what you said as far as how quickly things can change,
and to kind of have to immerse ourselves
in the political process a bit to understand why this exists.
I mean, there's administrative stuff that the EPA can say,
hey, yeah, we're done, we can do this,
we can change this, that,
but I mean, there's some stuff that's in the actual,
that has to be changed by Congress,
and all it did just because an administration says,
just as quick as they said it's okay,
or not okay, I mean, it's not okay,
just as quickly they say that
we're not gonna criminal or prosecute you,
and you have granted the dropped every police charge,
so it was pending, that is awesome.
Somebody can come in tomorrow and say, hey,
yeah, I'm gonna interpret it this way,
it's not legal, so it takes a lot,
and we're in a good position,
like the momentum's going the right way,
it's quit sticking ourself full foot, you know?
Well, it was my chips.
Do what you want, I'm not your dad, I'm very glad.
I wanna ask you something that's not,
and particularly related to your case,
but a lot of what, who I talked to on the podcast,
is pickup trucks, and you had mentioned tractors
and things like that, like the AG side of it,
and I'm just curious, like,
to the people who have those types of vehicles or equipment,
they face a lot of the same issues that,
people with a power stroke or Duramax or Cummins do
with these systems and how they operate.
Decelentions and decelentions,
the after payment system, it's a failed system,
like it's all the same, it's just,
you know, when your pickup goes down,
it's inconvenient and it sucks,
especially if you use it for your livelihood.
But, you know, I hate to say it, you can go,
right, so, you know, it's not as bad
as if somebody's nine hours down out in the field.
You don't just call her at a car and say,
hey, can you drop me off another nine hour?
You know, you've got crops that get spoiled.
You get, like I said, you've got somebody
hauling hogs or hauling sheep, hauling cows,
it's out of the road, broke down.
Just got a bunch of hamburgers that weren't ready
to be have, you know, it's a bad situation.
Emergency vehicles being fire trucks.
We just had one at the shop the other day
that was so plugged up that it destroyed the curb, you know.
This is the big water truck, you know,
the ladder truck, pretty poor piece of equipment.
If you look out into the future for yourself,
like do you see yourself becoming more involved
in this process, whether it's through education,
whether it's through talking with people,
like do you see yourself carrying on that same mentality
and the things you did where you're emailing twice a day
and you were working towards restoration of your rights
and your freedoms, do you see yourself taking on more
of a role like that in the industry with talking about it
or educating people or becoming more involved
on the diesel side?
Oh, for sure, like, I mean,
obviously I'm not the greatest public speaker, you know,
but getting that part in was validation.
You know, I mean, it just lit a fire underneath me
that, I mean, I may not be able to do much,
but, you know, I'm gonna do what I can.
I try to be as engaging online now
and where it wasn't really, you know,
I try to just make my voice matter,
like anybody wants to listen.
I said, I might not know it all
or I might not be at the best knowledge
but what I do have and I think can help.
All for it.
I think about that, you think the leader of the free world
looks at your case and says, I'm gonna pardon him.
Right. And like, you know, just that in itself,
another guest I had on talked about that as well.
He felt like that was the first time somebody listened to him.
Throughout the whole process of it was that
and you think it takes that level to be able to fill that way.
I'm sure that that, it's inspirational.
Oh, yeah, like you said, the leader of the free world.
I mean, you said, you couldn't have said it better than like,
this isn't just Sue down in accounting
that's listening to you or, you know, your local mayor.
This is the person that is running our country,
is running the world, you know, you're saying, right.
He had time to say, hey, look, these guys,
you know, it's bad stuff, let's fix it.
You know, granted, there's a bunch of other guys
that are in the same situation
that I wish they would have their name on that list too.
And I hope it gets to that point.
I'll do whatever I can.
You know, hope I got to write letters to people.
I mean, just because I got my partner
that doesn't mean I'm done.
That's just, like I said, that was validation
that the work was paying off.
I mean, like I said, there was a lot of stuff
behind the scenes, you know, I mean,
I can't just say it was all I did, you know,
but that was just validation that my work was for some,
but and if I can, if I could continue to do that
to help other guys that are in my same situation
or I mean, I'm down, you know.
Yeah, that was the big news this year
was with Troy Lake and hearing about that initially.
And then it was like late Friday
or maybe it was like the 4th of July
when I started to see on mainstream news,
you know, about you and other people.
And I thought, well, this is way bigger
than just one single case.
This is something bigger.
So Troy, you know, in this process,
the Troy Lake stuff was kind of another kick in the,
you know, your thought process is right, you know,
you're like, I'm not just crazy, you know,
and somebody is seeing that the stuff was wrong as well.
So the Troy Lake was definitely a milestone in this whole,
in this whole journey.
Well, yeah, it was, it's just surreal, you know,
from seeing that, you know, somebody you've heard,
and you know, I'd never done business with Troy
or I just, I do love him,
but just to know that another simple guy,
you know, got looked at, it was, it was pretty.
Well, like I said in the beginning,
I appreciate you chatting with me.
I'm sure, I mean, every major news outlet
I've ever seen your name on,
so I'm sure people are reaching out to you
from every corner of media to be able to chat with you.
Then I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me
and share the story and the insights with it.
If there's ever anything you want to talk about
or anything, you're always more than welcome to come back on.
But I want to give the opportunity,
if somebody does want to reach out to you
or something like that, is there a way people
can find you, contact you?
Like what's the best way like related to this?
Facebook probably, you know, Facebook's the easiest.
I mean, start giving out your personal stuff,
you know, you're never going to get any more work done,
but Facebook's a good place to kind of monitor
and kind of, you know, you know,
because then I like, can hit your profile
and tell kind of like some of these news guys
are like, hey, I want to do an article
and you look at their profile and they're like,
yeah, not going to happen.
You know, or somebody like you,
you're like, all right, this dude aligns
with kind of how I believe, you know,
like you're kind of fed and who you talk to or clear.
We're just going to sit there and waste your time.
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't think about that angle
till you mentioned it to me is,
well, like, why does somebody want to talk to you?
I think would be important, you know?
Oh, I literally, anybody that's,
I throw their name, right, Chatsy PT.
I'm like, tell me about this, dude.
Let me, let me know what his,
It's going to be worse.
Let me know what his, his,
research some of his articles.
I mean, that's my little personal assistant, you know?
Yeah.
And from there, you're like, it's an old marketplace thing.
You know, if somebody wants to buy something from you,
you always hit their profile,
kind of see what they're about, you know?
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
So I think Facebook's the best way for me
to spread this time, you know?
Very cool.
Well, I, like I said, I appreciate your time today, John.
Yeah.
Telling your story.
The insights, I mean, best to look in the future
with your future endeavors, things you decide to do.
And if you ever'd like to be back on, you know,
how to get in touch with us, just shoot me a message.
And you're always more than welcome back on the podcast.
Yeah, man, I appreciate it.
I appreciate what you do.
And yeah, if you ever want me back, more well.
Thanks again, John.
Yeah.
Don't forget, Diesel fans, make sure and head on over
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Also want to give a shout out to some of our Patreon supporters,
Robert, TSW, Diesel, John, all of our other Patreon supporters,
all of you who subscribe on YouTube and podcast apps,
follow us on social media.
We appreciate all your support here in year 10
of the Diesel podcast.
And look forward to bringing you more of the content
that you want to hear in 2026.
Till next time, keep the shiny side up.
Thank you.
About this episode
A diesel shop owner recounts how an EPA investigation escalated into a subpoena, years of limbo, and ultimately “I went to federal prison.” He explains how investigators couldn’t separate legitimate work from “deleting,” and describes the personal toll: a “waiting game,” a four-month sentence, fines, and supervised-release limits like “for the first 90 days, you can't leave the state.” The hosts then translate his story into a warning: legality can flip, and “just chip” setups may be enforced later—sometimes requiring a “carb number.”
Original notes
A Presidential Pardon closed one chapter—but according to today's guest,
the conversation about diesel emissions enforcement is far from over.
On this episode of The Diesel Podcast, I sit down with Jon Achtemeier
who was convicted of Clean Air Act violations, served four months in
federal prison, and was granted a Presidential Pardon this July. Whether
you own a Cummins, Duramax, Powerstroke, operate a diesel repair shop,
or simply want to understand how federal emissions enforcement has
affected the diesel industry, this episode provides a firsthand
perspective from someone who lived through it.
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