By SUZANNE DOWNING
July 5, 2026 – A Wasilla diesel mechanic whose business became the target of a heavily armed federal raid under the Biden administration has received a full presidential pardon from President Donald Trump, ending a years-long legal battle that Alaska officials have argued should never have happened.
US Sen. Dan Sullivan announced Friday that President Donald Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Mackenzie “Mac” Spurlock, owner of Matanuska Diesel LLC in Wasilla. Sullivan said Trump personally called him Friday morning, on the eve of Independence Day, to inform him that the pardon had been issued. Ten others received pardons for fixing their cars.
Today, I received a phone call from the President, who told me that he had issued an unconditional pardon for an Alaskan who was unjustly stripped of his rights because of dangerous and ridiculous EPA regulations and overzealous prosecutors. On the eve of America’s 250th… pic.twitter.com/y9uNqjPfQp
— Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) July 4, 2026
Watch Sen. Dan Sullivan on Facebook announce the pardon here.
Spurlock, a veteran who served six years in the Alaska Air National Guard as an aerospace propulsion technician, was convicted after federal prosecutors accused him of modifying diesel emissions-control systems on trucks and heavy equipment. The modifications were intended to prevent vehicles from shutting down during Alaska’s extreme winter conditions. Sullivan has been sounding the alarm on EPA regulations that have created life-threatening conditions for Alaskans.
Sullivan and Begich team up to keep Alaska’s diesel engines running in extreme cold
Approximately 30 armed Environmental Protection Agency agents and personnel from other federal agencies raided Spurlock’s Wasilla business in June 2022. Many of the federal personnel were reportedly flown in from California, Washington, and Oregon.
Sullivan has repeatedly criticized the prosecution, arguing it exemplified the federal government’s one-size-fits-all approach to environmental regulation without accounting for Alaska’s unique climate.
“Four years ago, about 30 armed EPA agents conducted a military-style tactical raid of Matanuska Diesel,” Sullivan said in announcing the pardon. “Mac’s supposed crime? His shop had assisted trucking businesses by modifying several diesel emissions-control systems mandated by a one-size-fits-all Obama-era emissions regulation, ensuring the vehicles wouldn’t shut down in Alaska’s harsh, subzero conditions.”
Sullivan said the conviction carried significant personal consequences for Spurlock. In addition to being fined $32,000, he became a convicted felon, faced travel restrictions, lost his right to own firearms, and was prevented from reenlisting in the Alaska Air National Guard.
“Mac just wanted to help business owners keep Alaskans safe on the highways in the winter,” Sullivan said. “Instead, Mac became a felon… This morning, on the eve of the Fourth of July, President Trump called me to let me know he had issued a full and unconditional pardon, granting Mac his freedom back and righting a grave injustice.”
The case has become a rallying point for critics of federal diesel emissions regulations, particularly in northern states where prolonged subzero temperatures can interfere with diesel emissions systems.
Under the EPA regulations, heavy-duty diesel vehicles are fitted with emissions-control systems that can automatically reduce engine power or shut down engines when faults are detected. Those systems can malfunction in extreme cold, particularly when diesel exhaust fluid and related emissions components cannot maintain their required operating temperatures.
Sullivan said he has heard from truckers, heavy equipment operators, and small business owners across Alaska that the regulations create dangerous situations, including reports of trucks shutting down during winter storms on remote highways.
One example frequently cited by the senator involved a truck losing power during a blizzard on the Dalton Highway, the desolate 400-mile road connecting Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.
Sullivan has made changing the regulations a legislative priority. Last November, Sullivan and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming introduced the Cold Weather Diesel Reliability Act, (S. 3135), legislation that would require the EPA to revise its diesel emissions regulations to account for operation in cold-weather states. The bill would also create year-round exemptions from diesel exhaust fluid system requirements for vehicles and equipment operating primarily in cold climates.
Congressman Nick Begich has introduced companion legislation in the House to hasten along the needed fixes, A hearing on his bill took place June 3 in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on environment.
Earlier this year, Sullivan used a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to press the issue and advocate for the legislation. He also said he has worked with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to pursue regulatory changes while continuing efforts in Congress to permanently fix the problem.
Friday’s pardon removes Spurlock’s federal conviction and restores the civil rights he lost as a result of the prosecution, bringing to a close one of Alaska’s most closely watched environmental enforcement cases.
12 thoughts on “Trump pardons Wasilla diesel mechanic; Real Dan Sullivan calls it ‘righting a grave injustice’”
This is such good news. What happened to this small business was reprehensible. The owners should be compensation for financial loss, pain and suffering , and it should come out of the pockets of the puppet administration we had in office who were behind it all.
The whole prolonged event sounds an awful like what David Haeg (Kenai) and the Huepers (Homer) have had to endure! We can’t wait til the Democrats are back in power, so that Planet Earth can be protected from these awful mechanics and hotel keepers, right? If we had COUNTIES, instead of stooooopid Boroughs, these tyrannical raids would not occur. Counties have SHERIFFS, and a sheriff controls the federal agents. He is THE highest authority within his juridiction. One of the reforms we needed in the constitutional convention would have been to transform the boro’s into counties. How many conservatives quailed at voting “YES” in 2022?
And to think that all these democrat hacks think about nowadays is reclaiming narcissistic power, packing the Supreme Court, adding additional blue states, open boarders, nationalizing industries, etc. Given their temperament // disposition (openly visible to all that pay attention), I cannot see ‘reasonable’ democrat. They must be defeated.
Something that actually helps a little guy!
This is nice to see.
Awesome to see Dan and Nick working together on this… both sides of the legislature!
It’s been some time since I looked at S3135 but when I last did the bill specifically excluded Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan by requiring Alaskans residing south of 59 degrees north to continue using DEF. I sure hope that has been changed in the bill!
> armed Environmental Protection Agency agents
Why is the EPA armed?
Our Founders never wanted a large and consequently coercive federal government. Not only for its inevitable onerous taxation, but also its tyranny of standing armies (and the siren call of war). We have allowed this and now our country the Founders would not recognize. Until 1912 most Americans never dealt with or were taxed by the federal government- as it should be.
One way or another the pendulum swings and this far arc we are on will return to center. Though at the present we are all in a terrible state. May God have mercy on us.
Of the ~450 US Government Agencies, there’s approximately 95 that are Badged, Armed, and have Policing // Law Enforcement Powers … including the EPA.
Being armed is a consequence of their being granted arrest powers
This kid is my diesel mechanic and does great work, runs a excellent business! I didn’t even know he was going through this or would have done some writing on his behalf. And I retired as an Air Force First Sgt from the squadron that his engine shop was in; I didn’t even know he was a jet troop either! Good on him! And thank you, Sen. Sullivan!
I do not know whom the absolute idiots are who came up with DEF systems; very likely someone with the C.A.R.B. (California Asshole Resource Board), not a single member of which actually understands how a diesel engine actually works, but on trucks and heavy equipment especially, they are about as sensible as men becoming women. I can absolutely guarantee that not a single one of the spineless cowards who raided this guy’s shop would ever have the balls to do a single day’s work outside during an Alaskan winter.
This subject is exhausting. I’m fuming just thinking about it, so pardon me, I can’t help feeling gassed.