Frock Brothers Trucking and Lancaster mechanic sentenced in Clean Air Act violation scheme

Yahoo

07-03-2025

A New Oxford trucking company was sentenced to two years of probation and an $80,000 fine after having previously pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act in a federal criminal case last year, according to a news release and court records.
The company pleaded guilty in October of 2024 to one felony count of violating the Clean Air Act, with prosecutors recommending the company be sentenced to an $80,000 fine and two years of probation.
That recommendation was ultimately taken by United States District Judge Julia K. Munley, who imposed the recommended sentence during a hearing on March 6, 2025, according to a press release issued by the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Previously reported: New Oxford trucking company pleads to Clean Air Act violation - disabled emissions monitor
The charge had brought the potential for a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to five months of probation, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged that the company had conspired with a mechanic, based in Lititz, Pa., to remove emissions monitors from diesel trucks operated by the company, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint alleged that between Nov. 13 and Dec. 28 of 2018, the company contracted Leon Martin, who operated as a mechanic out of his home in Lititz, to disable or remove emission control components that were required under the Clean Air Act.
In the case, prosecutors listed eight 2014 Kenworth trucks owned by the company that had their emissions systems disabled or removed by Martin.
Martin pleaded guilty to one count of felony violation of the Clean Air Act and a second count of felony conspiracy, according to court records.
On March 6, 2025, Martin was sentenced to two years of probation, a three month home curfew, and a fine of $500,000 by Judge Munley.
'Tampering with required emissions monitoring devices in heavy duty vehicles results in a significant increase in air pollution,' said Allison Landsman, the Special Agent in Charge for the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigations Division, in the Thursday news release.
'Today's sentencing demonstrates that we will hold violators accountable for breaking our environmental laws.'
Prior to the sentence being handed down, the counsel for Frock Brothers argued for a lower sentence, requesting a fine of $8,000 and one year of probation, court records show.
According to the documents filed by Frock Brothers and their counsel, the company was founded by brothers Ed and Daniel Frock in 1982.
After "starting with almost nothing," according to the defense counsel, the brothers built the business together. At its peak, the company had 70 tractors, 300 trailers, and employed around 85 people.
Daniel Frock, who "played a lesser role in the company," sold his entire interest to his brother, Ed Frock, in 2021, the documents said.
"Ed Frock, and Ed Frock alone, made arrangements with Leon Martin, a mechanic in Ephrata, Pennsylvania to have eight diesel trucks altered so that they would disable the emission control systems in the vehicles," the documents by counsel allege.
Defense counsel argued that, towards the end of his career, Ed Frock "began to exhibit disdain towards the industry that he thought had become over regulated," calling his actions a "final act of defiance" towards those regulations.
Ed Frock, the documents note, died in 2022, and the company was passed to his wife, Jane, who previously had "no involvement in the business."
"Through multiple obstacles, including the surprise revelation about the altered trucks, and related investigation, Jane has worked every day thereafter to keep the company afloat," counsel argued in the document.
"When Jane learned about the steps Ed had taken to alter the eight diesel trucks a few years before his passing, she was surprised, upset and immediately took steps to remedy the problem," counsel told the judge, adding that Jane Frock had "ordered that the eight trucks be altered back to their original condition."
According to the company's counsel, "Frock Brothers Trucking, Inc., through Jane's insistence, cooperated completely with the Government investigation."
In closing their argument to the judge, counsel stated that "Frock Brothers Trucking, Inc. is a unique corporate defendant whose current leadership played no role in the offending and criminal behavior.
"Frock Brothers Trucking, Inc. has no prior history of misconduct and has fully accepted responsibility for the conduct of its former owner," the document argued.
In the federal prosecutor's sentencing document, the government acknowledged that the company's cooperation had "saved the United States substantial time and effort," but stated that "Frock does not have in place any program to prevent or detect future violations."
Prosecutors argued, in their documents, that any sentence in the case must "reflect the seriousness of the offense" and "afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct."
In requesting the $80,000 fine, the prosecutors note that it would require the company to "disgorge some of the savings realized from its illegal conduct," which would act as a "deterrence to others considering this activity."
According to the prosecution, Frock has a total net worth of almost $2 million.
"The defendant's suggestion of a one year term of probation and a paltry fine of $8,000 would provide no deterrence to others similarly situated who contemplate engaging in similar criminal conduct and polluting the atmosphere," prosecutors argued.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Adams County trucking company gets $80K fine, probation for violations