Trump pardons two Alaska diesel mechanics at rally

President Donald Trump signed unconditional pardons for Alaska mechanics Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming during a rally in Wasilla on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The men had pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. Trump presented the pardons onstage, saying the pair had been wrongly charged, while the Justice Department’s account described their conduct as emissions-control tampering. Czubak and Fleming co-owned an Anchorage diesel repair shop. According to the Biden Justice Department, they tampered with federally required monitoring devices and removed pollution-control equipment from at least 37 diesel vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020. The department said the vehicles included private and commercial trucks. The two men pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in 2022. Trump portrayed the work as repairs intended to keep diesel engines operating and criticized the prosecutions. The Justice Department’s description, by contrast, said the modifications removed required emissions controls. The supplied accounts do not independently establish the underlying conduct beyond the guilty pleas and the department’s account.