Tracy Coiteux, co-owner of two automotive businesses in Clark County, was found guilty of conspiracy and 11 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Air Act. This conviction came after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, where a jury determined that she had tampered with diesel trucks’ emissions monitoring systems by removing pollution control equipment between January 2018 and November 2020.
Coiteux co-owns Racing Performance Maintenance Northwest in Ridgefield and RPM Motors and Sales NW in Woodland. The businesses tampered with approximately 375 diesel trucks over three years, earning $538,477 in the process. U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin H. Settle scheduled her sentencing for Aug. 19.
In May 2021, an indictment charged Coiteux, her husband Sean Coiteux, and service manager Nick Akerill with conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and 11 specific violations of the Act. Sean Coiteux pleaded guilty in March to violating the Clean Air Act and is set to be sentenced on Aug. 13. Akerill previously pleaded guilty to state pollution charges and was sentenced to work 30 days on a Clark County work crew.
Each violation of the federal Clean Air Act is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while conspiracy carries a sentence of up to five years in prison for those convicted of this crime are at risk of facing serious legal consequences due to their actions
