Trump Pardons Two More Alaska Diesel Shop Owners in Clean Air Act Cases, Extending a Pattern of Emissions-Tampering Clemency

ANALYSIS · October 14, 2026

Slug: trump-pardons-alaska-diesel-mechanics-clean-air-act

Package note: This analysis draws first on the Justice Department’s clemency list, the Spurlock pardon warrant, and U.S. Attorney’s Office (District of Alaska) releases from 2022 and 2023. The October 13, 2026, pardons of Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming are reported by news outlets but do not yet appear on DOJ’s clemency list, which was last updated September 9, 2026. A pardon forgives a federal offense; it is not a finding that the conduct was lawful.

Primary sources

  • DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney, “Clemency Grants by President Donald J. Trump (2025-Present)”: https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present
  • Executive Grant of Clemency, United States v. Spurlock, 3:23-CR-109 (D. Alaska): https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1451221/dl?inline
  • USAO District of Alaska, “Co-Owners of Arm Rippin Toys Plead Guilty to Clean Air Act Violation” (Nov. 9, 2022): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/co-owners-arm-rippin-toys-plead-guilty-clean-air-act-violation
  • USAO District of Alaska, “Former co-owners of Matanuska Diesel charged with Clean Air Act violations” (Nov. 20, 2023): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/former-co-owners-matanuska-diesel-charged-clean-air-act-violations
  • USAO District of Alaska, “Co-owner of Wasilla auto shop sentenced for violating Clean Air Act” (Nov. 2, 2023): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/co-owner-wasilla-auto-shop-sentenced-violating-clean-air-act
  • Sen. Dan Sullivan, press release on the Spurlock pardon (July 2026): https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-welcomes-presidential-pardon-for-wasilla-diesel-mechanic-unjustly-prosecuted-by-the-epa/
  • Reporting on the October 13 pardons: CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pardons-auto-workers-alaska-rally-clean-air-act/), USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/10/13/trump-pardon-alaskan-mechanics-emissions/92241806007/), Alaska News (https://alaskanews.com/c/alaska-news/trump-pardons-two-anchorage-diesel-shop-owners-onstage-at-wasilla-campaign-rally)

At a campaign rally in Wasilla on October 13, President Trump signed pardons onstage for Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, according to CBS News, USA Today and Alaska News. The two are co-owners of Arm Rippin Toys, Inc., an Anchorage diesel repair shop, and pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. The President described them as “Wasilla truckers,” but DOJ records identify them as Anchorage shop owners. Their pardons follow earlier ones for three other Alaska diesel mechanics: Mackenzie “Mac” Spurlock of Wasilla in July, and Arm Rippin co-owner Michael Hanzuk II and Wasilla shop owner Daniel Chase in September.

Core Tension

Supporters say these mechanics were punished for keeping trucks running in extreme cold. The prosecutions, as DOJ described them, were about removing emissions controls and reprogramming diagnostics on dozens to hundreds of vehicles for pay. Arm Rippin Toys altered at least 37 vehicles and collected about $100,000; Chase’s shop altered at least 144 trucks and earned more than $349,000. No one in these Alaska cases went to prison. The sentences were probation and fines of $32,000 to $66,000. The pardons remove those convictions but do not change the underlying EPA rules. The two newest pardons are not yet on DOJ’s official clemency list, so their exact terms are known only from news reports.

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