New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Nationwide Conspiracy to Tamper with Truck Emissions

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jonathan Achtemeier, 44, of Columbia, New Jersey, entered a guilty plea to a conspiracy charge for breaking the Clean Air Act by turning off pollution controls on diesel trucks nationwide.

Achtemeier worked with mechanics and operators to remotely access trucks to disable emission software between 2019 and 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. On February 14, 2025, U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright is set to sentence Achtemeier for his involvement in this environmental scheme, which involved hundreds of vehicles and resulted in emissions that exceeded federal limits by up to 1,200 times.

Trucks ranging from Dodge R3500 pickups to larger Kenworth and Freightliner semi-trucks were modified using software to trick them into running without necessary pollution control hardware. This is a violation of environmental law that greatly increases air pollution and carries legal consequences, such as possible jail time and fines.

Achtemeier’s business practice, which operated under the names Voided Warranty Tuning (VWT) or Optimized Ag, profited greatly from this unlawful conduct. They charged up to $4,500 for each truck modification, sometimes requiring less than two hours of real labor, and made over $4.3 million in total earnings. Achtemeier’s influence and environmental damage were greatly increased by the coconspirators who are known to have operated truck fleets or service garages in Washington State.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division is in charge of this case, and a group of lawyers led by Lauren Watts Staniar, Dane Westermeyer, and Seth Wilkinson are prosecuting it. EPA lawyer Karla Perrin is also a Special Assistant United States Attorney.

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