Trump pardons multiple people convicted in car repair cases ahead of July 4

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was granting full executive pardons to more than a half-dozen people who he claimed were “persecuted” by the Biden administration for simply “fixing their cars.”

In a post on Truth Social Friday afternoon, the president took aim at the previous administration’s federal investigations, calling them “Weaponization and Stupidity,” saying: “I AM RELEASE THEM ALL NOW!”

Those pardoned were blamed for circumventing emissions control regulations that are no longer in effect, a White House official told Fox News Digital.

These include: Joshua Davis; Matt George; Jonathan Achtemeier; Tim Clancy; Ryan and Wade Lalone; Barry Pierce; Aaron Rudolph; and Mackenzie Spurlock.

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The pardons are in line with Trump’s broader effort to defend the “right to repair.”

Earlier in the week, he signed a presidential memo designed to make it easier for Americans to repair their own vehicles by protecting self-repair rights and opening up aftermarket parts options.

“That caught my attention because I noticed they were arresting people who were fixing their cars,” Trump said at a press conference in the Oval Office. “We manage with common sense.”

Executive pardon, Elite Diesel Service Inc. It follows the high-profile federal environmental case involving the company and its owner, Troy Lake Sr.

Lake received a full and unconditional pardon on November 7, 2025, and United States v. Elite Diesel Service, Inc. His conviction in the et al case was expunged.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., joined Fox News in 2025 to discuss the Biden administration’s “EPA overreach” in the case of diesel mechanic Troy Lake, who was prosecuted for violating the Clean Air Act. (Cynthia Lummis)

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According to federal plea agreements, Elite Diesel instructed employees to disable computerized in-car diagnostic systems on at least 344 heavy-duty trucks between January 2017 and December 2020.

Diagnostic systems are federally authorized under the Clean Air Act to monitor emissions control systems.

Lake was sentenced on December 5, 2024, to more than a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. The company was placed on probation for five years, ordered to pay a $37,500 fine and ordered to pay $12,500 to a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment program designed to repair emissions systems for low-income drivers.

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Government prosecutors also argued that Elite Diesel’s accomplices hired Lake’s company to manipulate computers to keep other diesel truck garages and fleets from detecting emissions system malfunctions, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

The EPA’s expanding investigation ultimately combed through eight alleged conspirators’ garages and fleets in seven states, including Kansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Businesses were ordered to pay hefty fines and fund local community service projects, such as purchasing clean school buses or electric field maintenance equipment, to offset environmental impacts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Environmental Protection Agency charged the defendants with reducing air quality. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly/File Photo)

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At the time, Biden administration officials argued that criminal prosecutions were necessary for public health.

EPA Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent Lance Ehrig accused the defendants of leading a “large-scale conspiracy” that “degraded air quality.”

A study cited by the prosecutor’s office claimed the tampered trucks collectively released more than 1,300 tons of nitrogen oxides and other pollutants into the air.