Tattnall County mechanic pleads guilty to tampering with logging equipment to evade environmental controls

A Tattnall County man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to operating a business that tampered with government-mandated emissions controls on commercial logging equipment.

Justin Taylor, 30, of Collins, Ga., pled guilty in U.S. District Court to an Information charging him with Conspiracy to Tamper with a Monitoring Device, and Fraud and False Statement, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Taylor to a possible statutory sentence of up to five years in prison and substantial financial penalties, followed by a period of supervised release upon completion of any prison term.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Emissions controls on heavy duty commercial equipment exist to help prevent excessive pollution from diesel engines, and evading those controls makes the air dirtier and less safe for everyone,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “With this plea agreement, Justin Taylor will no longer profit at the expense of our communities.”

As described in court documents and testimony, Taylor was a mechanic working from a shop at his home and at remote job sites from as early as Jan. 1, 2018, through Jan. 20, 2021. Using a high-powered computer that supported diagnostic tools for heavy-duty logging equipment, Taylor performed emission-control “deletes” for more than 200 owners of diesel engines.

The changes Taylor made to the emission controls on those machines disabled the electronic monitoring devices and methods required under the Clean Air Act. Taylor routinely charged $2,000 for this service, earning more than $1.2 million during this period while reporting only $166,853 in income.

As a consequence of falsifying the information on his tax filings for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, Taylor agrees in his plea to pay a total of $279,642 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, along with accrued interest.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule sentencing for Taylor upon completion of a pre-sentence investigation by U.S. Probation Services.

“Justin Taylor has pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act and tampering with the emissions control equipment on hundreds of Tigercat brand heavy-duty diesel logging equipment throughout the Southeast,” said Acting Director Jennifer Lynn of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. “These crimes would increase air pollution which intensifies respiratory illnesses and environmental degradation. This guilty plea serves as a reminder that EPA and our partners are steadfast in our commitment to protect human health and the environment.”

“Justin Taylor assisted others in illegally evading EPA rules, receiving payments for it and failing to pay taxes on it,” said Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigations. “Justin Taylor enriched himself substantially and did not fully report his income or pay taxes. IRS Special Agents will continue to investigate and hold tax cheats accountable”

The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and IRS Criminal Investigations, and prosecuted for the United States of America by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney Darron J. Hubbard.