The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has dismissed federal charges Matthew Caroluzzi and his company, Matt’s Heavy Duty Mobile Diagnostics and Truck Repair and Heavy Towing (Matt’s HD).
“My employees and I work hard every day to solve problems and get trucks back onto the road,” Caroluzzi said. “People come to me and my business because we are experts at what we do. The federal investigation was a big distraction that is now behind me. I am happy to have had the indictment against me dismissed so I can move on and focus on my business and family.”
Initial Charges
As The Trucker reported in July 2025, Matt’s HD was charged with nine counts of violating the Clean Air Act and one count of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act and aiding and abetting.
When the charges were initially announced the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General released a statement regarding the charges.
“Matt’s HD was a Pennsylvania certified vehicle safety inspection station that performed repairs and maintenance on commercial motor vehicles including heavy duty and medium duty diesel-powered trucks and other vehicles,” USDOT-OIG said. “Caroluzzi, Matt’s HD, and others allegedly performed hundreds of “deletes” of hardware components of commercial motor vehicle emission control systems and software “tunes.” Hardware alterations to emissions control systems are often referred to as ‘deletes.’ These deletes tampered with the monitoring function of diesel trucks’ on-board diagnostics (OBD) monitoring systems, thereby enabling numerous vehicles to function while emitting higher levels of air pollutants into the atmosphere.”
Criminal Charge Enforcement Only
“The federal government developed new legal theories during the first Trump administration that tampering with a motor vehicle’s emissions control system could be charged as a criminal offense,” said Todd Mikolop, attorney for Caroluzzi and his company. “It took a number of years for the theories to be tested and ultimately this Trump administration determined that it would only pursue civil enforcement, not criminal, for these types of cases. It is unfortunate that my client was investigated and indicted but I am happy for him, his business and his family that he will no longer face criminal prosecution.”
The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be criminally pursued again in any court by the plaintiff.
In January, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resource Division announced it would no longer be pursuing criminal charges under the Clean Air Act based on allegations of tampering with onboard diagnostic devices in motor vehicles, however, the DOJ, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, “will still pursue civil enforcement when appropriate,” according to a social media post unrelated to the case.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
