Head of Test Lab Admits Faking Emissions’ Data

LOS ANGELES-The president of a defunct Garden Grove automobile emissions testing laboratory pleaded guilty Tuesday to faking tests on imported luxury cars.

Billy Closson, 54, of Highland in San Bernardino County, entered his guilty plea to the nine felony counts on the day the case was scheduled to go to trial in federal court. Former laboratory manager Roger Scoggins, 45, of Canoga Park, and former technical director, John Sidwell, 24, of Palmdale, each pleaded guilty to two felony counts for their roles in the scheme.

Custom Engineering Inc. charged about $750 to perform emission tests required by the Environmental Protection Agency for imported cars. Most of the fraudulent test results submitted to the EPA were for luxury model Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Ferrari automobiles, according to a federal grand jury indictment filed in June.

Under federal law, imported cars may be conditionally admitted to the United States as long as they are later tested and certified as meeting U.S. pollution control standards. If the emissions testing laboratory determines that the car meets the EPA standards, the lab submits the test results to the EPA for approval.

Custom Engineering employees fabricated test data and falsified test results, according to the indictment. Closson even bought a computer to mass produce falsified test data showing that the cars had passed the emissions tests, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Janet L. Goldstein.

In December, 1985, following an investigation, the EPA’s Office of Mobile Sources removed Custom Engineering from it list of approved testing labs. The company closed shortly after it was removed from the list.

In its last year of operation, the company grossed about $1.4 million in testing fees, Goldstein said. She said the company was able to process and pass more cars by falsifying data than if it had performed legitimate tests. The case resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the FBI and the EPA. Closson faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison and $1.3 million in fines. The company faces a maximum penalty of $2.5 million in fines. Both Scoggins and Sidwell face up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, Goldstein said.

None of the defendants could be reached for comment.

U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer set a March 2 sentencing date for the three men.