{"id":3456,"date":"2011-03-04T12:50:50","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T19:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unrbep.org\/?p=3456"},"modified":"2011-03-04T12:50:50","modified_gmt":"2011-03-04T19:50:50","slug":"former-epa-fugitive-sentenced-for-violating-clean-air-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/former-epa-fugitive-sentenced-for-violating-clean-air-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Former EPA Fugitive Sentenced for Violating Clean Air Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON <\/strong>\u2014 Joseph DeMatteo of Clark County, Nev. has been sentenced to serve five months home detention, followed by a term of three years probation, for criminally violating the Clean Air Act. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the court. DeMatteo, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fugitive, was one of 10 Nevada-certified emissions testers indicted on Jan. 6, 2010 by a federal grand jury on one felony count for falsifying vehicle emissions test reports in Las Vegas between Nov. 2007 and May 2009. It is a crime to knowingly alter or conceal any record or other document required to be maintained by the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s sentence demonstrates that individuals who knowingly violate our nation\u2019s environmental laws and then flee the court\u2019s jurisdiction will be caught and brought to justice,\u201d said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA\u2019s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. \u201cAbusing emissions testing responsibilities puts communities\u2019 air quality at risk. With information provided through the EPA fugitive\u2019s list, we were able to work with the public and other law enforcement agencies to capture and complete the sentencing of a defendant who attempted to circumvent the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the other nine defendants were promptly located and charged, DeMatteo failed to surrender to federal law enforcement authorities. Shortly after the indictments were released, DeMatteo was placed on the EPA fugitive list. DeMatteo was arrested in Las Vegas on Jun. 8, 2010 by special agents after EPA received a tip on his whereabouts. On Oct. 14, 2010, DeMatteo pleaded guilty to making a material false statement in violation of the Clean Air Act. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The other defendants indicted are Eduardo Franco, Alexander Worster, Wadji Waked, Adolfo Contreras, David Nelson, William McCown, Gary Smith, Peter Escudero, and Louis Demeo. DeMatteo will be the sixth defendant sentenced.<\/p>\n

The defendants engaged in a practice known as \u201cclean scanning\u201d vehicles. The identification number of a vehicle that cannot pass the emissions test\u2014or is not even present for testing\u2014is entered into the computer system, but a different car that can pass the emissions test is actually tested. The data is then recorded on the vehicle inspection report so that the initial car fraudulently “passed” the test. The cost of getting the fraudulent report was anywhere from $10 to $100 more than the usual emissions testing fee.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas is required to perform emissions testing because currently it violates ozone and carbon monoxide standards. Ozone is linked to a number of serious health problems, including causing asthma attacks and increasing the risk of premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing oxygen delivery to the body\u2019s organs.<\/p>\n

The case was investigated by EPA\u2019s Office of Criminal Enforcement and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Compliance Enforcement Division. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Nevada and the Justice Department\u2019s Environmental Crimes Section.<\/p>\n

More information on EPA\u2019s fugitive website: http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/fugitives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Joseph DeMatteo of Clark County, Nev. has been sentenced to serve five months home detention, followed by a term of three years probation, for criminally violating the Clean Air Act. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the court. DeMatteo, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fugitive, was one … Continue reading Former EPA Fugitive Sentenced for Violating Clean Air Act<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3457,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456\/revisions\/3457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}