- Diego Alonso Lazo Olivos pleaded guilty to fake emissions tests on June 1.
- He received 18 months probation and must pay $250 monthly restitution for 20 months.
- Olivos can't conduct emissions tests or seek certification and must testify if subpoenaed.
OREM — The third of four Orem auto repair shop employees accused of giving fake emissions tests to vehicles that would have otherwise failed a regular test has been convicted, and a motion has been filed to dismiss the charges against the fourth.
Diego Alonso Lazo Olivos, 28, of Saratoga Springs, pleaded guilty on June 1 to 10 counts of attempting to violate the Air Conservation Act, a class A misdemeanor. He was immediately sentenced to 18 months of probation and ordered to pay $250 a month in restitution for the next 20 months, according to court records.
Olivos was also ordered not to conduct any future emissions testing or seek certification as an emissions technician and must testify if subpoenaed in the case of the remaining defendant.
In November, Olivos, Benjamin Louis Nielsen, 52, of Pleasant Grove; Matthew Neil Lerud, 41, of South Jordan; and Christian Valdovinos, 27, of Provo, were each charged in the 4th District Court with multiple counts of violating the Air Conservation Act, a third-degree felony.
Nielsen pleaded guilty in February to three counts of attempting to violate the Air Conservation Act, a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation and ordered to pay a little over $700, court records state.
Valdovinos pleaded guilty in March to two counts of attempting to violate the Air Conservation Act, a class A misdemeanor and received a similar sentence to Nielsen.
Leurd, was charged with 10 counts of violating the Air Conservation Act, a third-degree felony, and had a pre-trial conference scheduled for June 8. But on Friday, the Utah County Attorney's Office filed a motion to have the charges dismissed "in the interest of justice," according to their motion.
Prosecutors, however, say they are still evaluating whether to file additional charges against other employees.
According to prosecutors, in June 2025, "it was brought to the attention of the Orem Police Department that the Utah County Health Department had discovered that Cleggs Car Care, located in Orem, was conducting fraudulent vehicle emissions tests dating back to as early as 2022."
"It was discovered after reviewing many months of records from the health department emissions tests that the four technicians would fraudulently pass a vehicle's emission test by conducting what is called a 'clean connect method.' A clean connect occurs when a technician fraudulently connects the emissions analyzer machine to a third vehicle, but the technician will pretend that the analyzer machine was actually connected to the vehicle that was brought to Cleggs for an emissions test," according to charging documents.
Olivos is believed to have conducted the most emission reports this year, followed by Nielsen, the charges state.
