Heavy D Sparks arrested on contempt warrant in Clean Air Act case

David "Heavy D" Sparks, a co‑star of the television series Diesel Brothers, was arrested in Salt Lake City on Tuesday after a federal judge issued a bench warrant for contempt tied to a Clean Air Act lawsuit that found Sparks and other defendants liable for more than $843,600 in fees and costs. County jail records show Sparks was booked Tuesday morning. Court filings indicate the warrant followed a series of orders that the judge said Sparks repeatedly failed to obey.

The underlying lawsuit, filed in 2017 by Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, alleged that Sparks and his companies sold parts and modified vehicles in ways that defeated emissions controls on diesel trucks. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled in March 2020 that Sparks and other defendants had violated the Clean Air Act and later ordered them to pay $843,602.23 in fees and costs. Plaintiffs have cited lab testing of a vehicle purchased from Sparks Motors that showed emissions far above levels expected with an operational diesel particulate filter.

Federal court documents show the case moved from judgment to enforcement after plaintiffs said defendants failed to pay the ordered fees. The court found the...