David “Heavy D” Sparks, star of Discovery Channel’s Diesel Brothers, was arrested Tuesday after a federal judge issued a warrant for his failure to pay more than $844,000 in court-ordered fees related to a long-running Clean Air Act case, according to Bloomberg Law.
Sparks, co-owner of B&W Auto LLC — also known as Sparks Motors — has been entangled in litigation since 2017, when the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment sued him and several associates. The group alleged the company modified and sold diesel trucks that spewed emissions many times higher than federal limits. One of the trucks tested by a lab in Denver reportedly produced 21 times more particulate matter than a compliant diesel vehicle.
In 2020, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby found Sparks and his partners in violation of the Clean Air Act and ordered penalties and compliance measures. The court later added attorney fees and deposit requirements. When Sparks failed to follow those orders or turn over proceeds from a court-approved liquidation sale, Shelby held him in contempt.
Bloomberg reported that the judge finally issued a bench warrant authorizing U.S. Marshals to take Sparks into custody. He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail Tuesday morning. His attorney described the arrest as a civil matter and emphasized that no criminal charges have been filed, saying Sparks “looks forward to resolving this quickly.”
Sparks and business partner David “Diesel Dave” Kiley built a massive following through viral videos of custom diesel builds and stunts often involving “rolling coal,” a practice that releases large black plumes of exhaust. The duo’s Discovery Channel show, Diesel Brothers, premiered in 2016 and ran for eight seasons. Their social media channels remain popular, with millions of followers across YouTube and Instagram.
Court filings show that Sparks was required to deposit proceeds from the sale of company assets into a court-controlled account. When those funds were not delivered, the judge ruled that Sparks and B&W Auto had failed to comply with court orders. The warrant followed what the court described as “exhausting all other tools” to compel compliance.
Sparks has publicly pushed back against the case for years, saying the penalties were excessive and politically motivated. In August, he claimed in a video that a federal judge had temporarily halted a liquidation sale but warned followers that “a teeny tiny group of people out there would love to see us fail.” The sale was later allowed to proceed, but the use of those funds remains at the center of the dispute.
In a related ruling last year, a Utah judge reduced portions of the civil penalties, cutting total fines by more than $200,000, but those reductions did not affect the outstanding legal fees and contempt penalties that prompted this week’s arrest.
It’s unclear how long Sparks will remain in custody. Civil contempt warrants can often be cleared by compliance with the court’s orders or by payment of the disputed amount. His attorney said he expects a “timely release.”
The Diesel Brothers case has become a high-profile example of the EPA’s ongoing crackdown on aftermarket diesel modifications, which federal regulators argue contribute significantly to air pollution. The outcome could carry implications for other social media personalities who have promoted or sold emissions defeat equipment online.
(This story includes information reported by Bloomberg Law.)
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